abstreitenvsaustreibenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,498
“abstreiten” frequency rank
#46,490
“austreiben” frequency rank
80988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abstreiten austreiben
Definition eine Behauptung oder einen Vorwurf nicht anerkennen Weidevieh auf die Weide treiben

Where the eye mixes abstreiten and austreiben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abstreiten (VCCCCVVCVC) and austreiben (VVCCCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
abstreiten
10 ch
austreiben

Visual trap between abstreiten and austreiben

A purely visual mix-up. abstreiten ([ˈapˌʃtʁaɪ̯tn̩]) and austreiben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) 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 80988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abstreiten is recorded at frequency rank #34,498, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃtʁaɪ̯tn̩]. austreiben is at rank #46,490, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩].

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 80988, this pair ranks #184,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abstreiten vs austreiben

Shared letters: abeinrst. Private to "abstreiten": -. Private to "austreiben": u.

"abstreiten" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVVCVC  ·  "austreiben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abstreiten ← abbstreiten · absrteiten · absstreiten · absteriten · abstreietn · abstreitenn · abstreitne · abstreitten
  • austreiben ← asutreiben · ausrteiben · ausstreiben · austeriben · austrebien · austreibben · austreibenn · austreibne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abstreiten" for "austreiben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌʃtʁaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abstreiten" vs "austreiben" - which ranks higher?
"abstreiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,498 in our German list, against #46,490 for "austreiben". 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 "abstreiten" and "austreiben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abstreiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "austreiben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #184,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abstreiten" and "austreiben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abtreiben vs austreiben". 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 #184,583 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