Which to use
“absagen” and “abtragen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,793
- “absagen” frequency rank
- #49,443
- “abtragen” frequency rank
- 60236
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | absagen | abtragen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Angekündigtes widerrufen, eine Veranstaltung oder sonstiges nicht stattfinden lassen | schichtweise entfernen |
Where the eye mixes absagen and abtragen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. absagen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against abtragen's 8 (VCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses absagen with abtragen
A purely visual mix-up. absagen ([ˈapˌzaːɡn̩]) and abtragen ([ˈapˌtʁaːɡn̩]) 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 60236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
absagen is recorded at frequency rank #10,793, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌzaːɡn̩]. abtragen is at rank #49,443, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌtʁaːɡn̩].
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 60236, this pair ranks #794,561 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of absagen vs abtragen
Shared letters: abegn. Private to "absagen": s. Private to "abtragen": rt.
"absagen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "abtragen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "absagen" and "abtragen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "absagen" or "abtragen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "absagen" and "abtragen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "absagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abtragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #794,561 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "absagen" and "abtragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abraten vs abtragen". 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 #794,561 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.