AbscheuvsÄrscheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,599
“Abscheu” frequency rank
#27,150
“Ärsche” frequency rank
62749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abscheu Ärsche
Definition eine starke Abneigung gegen jemanden oder etwas Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Arsch

Where the eye mixes Abscheu and Ärsche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Abscheu
6 ch
Ärsche

Look-alike desk: Abscheu vs Ärsche

A purely visual mix-up. Abscheu ([ˈapˌʃɔɪ̯]) and Ärsche ([ˈɛʁʃə]) 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 62749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abscheu is recorded at frequency rank #35,599, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌʃɔɪ̯]. Ärsche is at rank #27,150, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁʃə].

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 62749, this pair ranks #701,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abscheu vs Ärsche

Shared letters: cehs. Private to "Abscheu": abu. Private to "Ärsche": .

"Abscheu" · 7 letters · shape VCCCCVV  ·  "Ärsche" · 6 letters · shape VCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abscheuabbscheu · abcsheu · absccheu · abscehu · abschheu · abschue · abshceu · absscheu

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abscheu" and "Ärsche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌʃɔɪ̯] versus [ˈɛʁʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abscheu" vs "Ärsche" - which ranks higher?
"Ärsche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,150 in our German list, against #35,599 for "Abscheu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abscheu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ärsche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #701,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abscheu" and "Ärsche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arischen vs Ärsche". 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 #701,624 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