Which to use
“abwehren” and “abwenden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,288
- “abwehren” frequency rank
- #18,145
- “abwenden” frequency rank
- 44433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abwehren | abwenden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas oder jemanden zurückschlagen, um auf einen Angriff zu reagieren | (sich) zur Seite wegdrehen; sich von jemandem zurückziehen |
Where the eye mixes abwehren and abwenden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abwehren and abwenden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: abwehren vs abwenden
A purely visual mix-up. abwehren ([ˈapˌveːʁən]) and abwenden ([ˈapˌvɛndn̩]) 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 44433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abwehren is recorded at frequency rank #26,288, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌveːʁən]. abwenden is at rank #18,145, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvɛndn̩].
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 44433, this pair ranks #1,386,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abwehren vs abwenden
Shared letters: abenw. Private to "abwehren": hr. Private to "abwenden": d.
"abwehren" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "abwenden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abwehren" and "abwenden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "abwehren" or "abwenden" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abwehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abwenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,386,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abwehren" and "abwenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abwenden vs Abwendung". 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 #1,386,344 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.