Which to use
“abtreiben” and “austreiben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,685
- “abtreiben” frequency rank
- #46,490
- “austreiben” frequency rank
- 90175
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abtreiben | austreiben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas oder jemanden, welches oder welcher sich fliegend oder schwimmend bewegt, von einer Richtung ablenken | Weidevieh auf die Weide treiben |
Where the eye mixes abtreiben and austreiben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abtreiben runs 9 letters (VCCCVVCVC) against austreiben's 10 (VVCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: abtreiben vs austreiben
A purely visual mix-up. abtreiben ([ˈapˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abtreiben is recorded at frequency rank #43,685, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]. 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 90175, this pair ranks #49,603 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abtreiben vs austreiben
Shared letters: abeinrt. Private to "abtreiben": -. Private to "austreiben": su.
"abtreiben" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC · "austreiben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abtreiben ← abbtreiben · abrteiben · abteriben · abtrebien · abtreibben · abtreibenn · abtreibne · abtreiebn
- austreiben ← asutreiben · ausrteiben · ausstreiben · austeriben · austrebien · austreibben · austreibenn · austreibne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abtreiben" for "austreiben" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abtreiben" or "austreiben"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abtreiben" and "austreiben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abtreiben" 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 #49,603 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abtreiben" and "austreiben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgreifen vs abtreiben". 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 #49,603 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.