abkühlenvsanfühlenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,477
“abkühlen” frequency rank
#25,035
“anfühlen” frequency rank
44512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abkühlen anfühlen
Definition von höherer Temperatur zu tieferer bringen etwas mit den Fingern berühren

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abkühlen and anfühlen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
abkühlen
8 ch
anfühlen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abkühlen ([ˈapˌkyːlən]) and anfühlen ([ˈanˌfyːlən]) 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 44512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abkühlen is recorded at frequency rank #19,477, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌkyːlən]. anfühlen is at rank #25,035, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌfyːlən].

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 44512, this pair ranks #1,383,836 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abkühlen vs anfühlen

Shared letters: aehlnü. Private to "abkühlen": bk. Private to "anfühlen": f.

"abkühlen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "anfühlen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abkühlen" and "anfühlen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌkyːlən] versus [ˈanˌfyːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abkühlen" or "anfühlen"?
"abkühlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,477 in our German list, against #25,035 for "anfühlen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list