abgewichenvsausgewichenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,984
“abgewichen” frequency rank
#33,446
“ausgewichen” frequency rank
76430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgewichen ausgewichen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs abweichen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ausweichen

Where the eye mixes abgewichen and ausgewichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
abgewichen
11 ch
ausgewichen

Look-alike desk: abgewichen vs ausgewichen

A purely visual mix-up. abgewichen ([ˈapɡəˌvɪçn̩]) and ausgewichen ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɪçn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgewichen is recorded at frequency rank #42,984, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌvɪçn̩]. ausgewichen is at rank #33,446, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɪçn̩].

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 76430, this pair ranks #284,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abgewichen vs ausgewichen

Shared letters: aceghinw. Private to "abgewichen": b. Private to "ausgewichen": su.

"abgewichen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "ausgewichen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgewichenabbgewichen · abegwichen · abgeiwchen · abgewcihen · abgewicchen · abgewicehn · abgewichenn · abgewichhen
  • ausgewichenasugewichen · augsewichen · ausegwichen · ausgeiwchen · ausgewcihen · ausgewicchen · ausgewicehn · ausgewichenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abgewichen" and "ausgewichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌvɪçn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abgewichen" vs "ausgewichen" - which ranks higher?
"ausgewichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,446 in our German list, against #42,984 for "abgewichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "abgewichen" and "ausgewichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgewichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgewichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgewichen" and "ausgewichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgeglichen vs abgewichen". 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 #284,100 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