abweisenvsausweisenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,338
“abweisen” frequency rank
#16,917
“ausweisen” frequency rank
54255
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abweisen ausweisen
Definition eine Bitte, eine Anfrage ablehnen; einer Bitte oder Anfrage nicht nachkommen des Landes verweisen

Where the eye mixes abweisen and ausweisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abweisen runs 8 letters (VCCVVCVC) against ausweisen's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
abweisen
9 ch
ausweisen

Visual trap between abweisen and ausweisen

A purely visual mix-up. abweisen ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and ausweisen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 54255, 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]. ausweisen is at rank #16,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 54255, this pair ranks #1,025,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abweisen vs ausweisen

Shared letters: aeinsw. Private to "abweisen": b. Private to "ausweisen": u.

"abweisen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "ausweisen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abweisenabbweisen · abewisen · abweiesn · abweisenn · abweisne · abweissen · abwesien · abwiesen
  • ausweisenasuweisen · ausewisen · aussweisen · ausweiesn · ausweisenn · ausweisne · ausweissen · auswesien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abweisen" for "ausweisen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯zn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abweisen" or "ausweisen"?
"ausweisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,917 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abweisen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,025,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abweisen" and "ausweisen" 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 #1,025,955 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