Which to use
“absagen” and “abwägen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,793
- “absagen” frequency rank
- #25,872
- “abwägen” frequency rank
- 36665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | absagen | abwägen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Angekündigtes widerrufen, eine Veranstaltung oder sonstiges nicht stattfinden lassen | vergleichend prüfen |
Where the eye mixes absagen and abwägen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses absagen with abwägen
A purely visual mix-up. absagen ([ˈapˌzaːɡn̩]) and abwägen ([ˈapˌvɛːɡn̩]) 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 36665, 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]. abwägen is at rank #25,872, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvɛːɡn̩].
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 36665, this pair ranks #1,609,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of absagen vs abwägen
Shared letters: abegn. Private to "absagen": s. Private to "abwägen": wä.
"absagen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "abwägen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- absagen ← abasgen · abbsagen · absaegn · absagenn · absaggen · absagne · absgaen · abssagen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "absagen" for "abwägen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "absagen" vs "abwägen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "absagen" and "abwägen" 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 "abwägen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,609,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "absagen" and "abwägen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abtragen vs abwägen". 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 #1,609,781 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.