abwaschenvsabweichenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,896
“abwaschen” frequency rank
#13,757
“abweichen” frequency rank
46653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abwaschen abweichen
Definition etwas (zum Beispiel Dreck) durch Waschen mit Wasser und meist mit Reinigungsmitteln entfernen sich von einer Norm oder Regularität unterscheiden

Where the eye mixes abwaschen and abweichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
abwaschen
9 ch
abweichen

Visual trap between abwaschen and abweichen

A purely visual mix-up. abwaschen ([ˈapˌvaʃn̩]) and abweichen ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) 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 46653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abwaschen is recorded at frequency rank #32,896, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvaʃn̩]. abweichen is at rank #13,757, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩].

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 46653, this pair ranks #1,311,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abwaschen vs abweichen

Shared letters: abcehnw. Private to "abwaschen": s. Private to "abweichen": i.

"abwaschen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC  ·  "abweichen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abwaschenabawschen · abbwaschen · abwacshen · abwascchen · abwascehn · abwaschenn · abwaschhen · abwaschne
  • abweichenabbweichen · abewichen · abwecihen · abweicchen · abweicehn · abweichenn · abweichhen · abweichne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abwaschen" and "abweichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌvaʃn̩] versus [ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abwaschen" or "abweichen"?
"abweichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,757 in our German list, against #32,896 for "abwaschen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "abwaschen" and "abweichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abwaschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abweichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,311,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abwaschen" and "abweichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abwasch vs abwaschen". 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 #1,311,736 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