Which to use
“abwaschen” and “abwischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,896
- “abwaschen” frequency rank
- #29,905
- “abwischen” frequency rank
- 62801
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abwaschen | abwischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas (zum Beispiel Dreck) durch Waschen mit Wasser und meist mit Reinigungsmitteln entfernen | etwas durch Wischen säubern |
Where the eye mixes abwaschen and abwischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abwaschen and abwischen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: abwaschen vs abwischen
A purely visual mix-up. abwaschen ([ˈapˌvaʃn̩]) and abwischen ([ˈapˌvɪʃn̩]) 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 a single letter - a in “abwaschen” becomes i in “abwischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62801, 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]. abwischen is at rank #29,905, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvɪʃn̩].
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 62801, this pair ranks #699,723 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abwaschen vs abwischen
Shared letters: abcehnsw. Private to "abwaschen": -. Private to "abwischen": i.
"abwaschen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "abwischen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abwaschen" for "abwischen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abwaschen" or "abwischen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "abwaschen" and "abwischen" 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 "abwischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #699,723 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abwaschen" and "abwischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abwischen vs arischen". 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 #699,723 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.