abweisenvsAmeisenTell them apart

Quick tell: abweisen is a verb, Ameisen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“abweisen” is a verb and “Ameisen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,338
“abweisen” frequency rank
#15,290
“Ameisen” frequency rank
52628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abweisen Ameisen
Definition eine Bitte, eine Anfrage ablehnen; einer Bitte oder Anfrage nicht nachkommen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ameise

Where the eye mixes abweisen and Ameisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abweisen runs 8 letters (VCCVVCVC) against Ameisen's 7 (VCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
abweisen
7 ch
Ameisen

Visual trap between abweisen and Ameisen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abweisen is [ˈapˌvaɪ̯zn̩] while Ameisen is [ˈaːmaɪ̯zn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abweisen is recorded at frequency rank #37,338, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌvaɪ̯zn̩]. Ameisen is at rank #15,290, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːmaɪ̯zn̩].

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 52628, this pair ranks #1,089,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abweisen vs Ameisen

Shared letters: aeins. Private to "abweisen": bw. Private to "Ameisen": m.

"abweisen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "Ameisen" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abweisen ← abbweisen · abewisen · abweiesn · abweisenn · abweisne · abweissen · abwesien · abwiesen
  • Ameisen ← aemisen · ameiesn · ameisenn · ameisne · ameissen · amesien · amiesen · ammeisen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abweisen" for "Ameisen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abweisen" is a verb and "Ameisen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "abweisen" or "Ameisen" show up more?
"Ameisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,290 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abweisen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ameisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,089,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abweisen" and "Ameisen" 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 #1,089,419 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