abgewähltvsabgewehrtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“abgewählt” and “abgewehrt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,421
“abgewählt” frequency rank
#33,941
“abgewehrt” frequency rank
64362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgewählt abgewehrt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abwählen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abwehren

Where the eye mixes abgewählt and abgewehrt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abgewählt and abgewehrt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
abgewählt
9 ch
abgewehrt

Why the eye confuses abgewählt with abgewehrt

A purely visual mix-up. abgewählt ([ˈapɡəˌvɛːlt]) and abgewehrt ([ˈapɡəˌveːɐ̯t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgewählt is recorded at frequency rank #30,421, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌvɛːlt]. abgewehrt is at rank #33,941, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌveːɐ̯t].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 64362, this pair ranks #644,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abgewählt vs abgewehrt

Shared letters: abeghtw. Private to "abgewählt": lä. Private to "abgewehrt": r.

"abgewählt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCC  ·  "abgewehrt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgewehrt ← abbgewehrt · abegwehrt · abgeewhrt · abgewehhrt · abgewehrrt · abgewehrtt · abgewehtr · abgewerht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abgewählt" and "abgewehrt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌvɛːlt] versus [ˈapɡəˌveːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abgewählt" or "abgewehrt"?
"abgewählt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,421 in our German list, against #33,941 for "abgewehrt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgewählt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abgewehrt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #644,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgewählt" and "abgewehrt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgemahnt vs abgewählt". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #644,260 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list