abweichenvsabweisenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,757
“abweichen” frequency rank
#37,338
“abweisen” frequency rank
51095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abweichen abweisen
Definition sich von einer Norm oder Regularität unterscheiden eine Bitte, eine Anfrage ablehnen; einer Bitte oder Anfrage nicht nachkommen

Where the eye mixes abweichen and abweisen

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

9 ch
abweichen
8 ch
abweisen

Look-alike desk: abweichen vs abweisen

A purely visual mix-up. abweichen ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩]) and abweisen ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 51095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abweichen is recorded at frequency rank #13,757, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩]. abweisen is at rank #37,338, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 51095, this pair ranks #1,148,683 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abweichen vs abweisen

Shared letters: abeinw. Private to "abweichen": ch. Private to "abweisen": s.

"abweichen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC  ·  "abweisen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abweichenabbweichen · abewichen · abwecihen · abweicchen · abweicehn · abweichenn · abweichhen · abweichne
  • abweisenabbweisen · abewisen · abweiesn · abweisenn · abweisne · abweissen · abwesien · abwiesen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abweichen" and "abweisen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ˈapˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abweichen" vs "abweisen" - which ranks higher?
"abweichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,757 in our German list, against #37,338 for "abweisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abweichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,148,683 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abweichen" and "abweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abweisen vs Abweisung". 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 #1,148,683 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