AbweisungvsAbwendungWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,444
“Abweisung” frequency rank
#47,185
“Abwendung” frequency rank
96629
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abweisung Abwendung
Definition Nichtannahme oder Nichtstattgabe eines Anliegens oder Antrages Wegdrehen; Rückzug aus einer Situation

Where the eye mixes Abweisung and Abwendung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Abweisung (VCCVVCVCC) and Abwendung (VCCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
Abweisung
9 ch
Abwendung

Why the eye confuses Abweisung with Abwendung

A purely visual mix-up. Abweisung ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯zʊŋ]) and Abwendung ([ˈapˌvɛndʊŋ]) 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 96629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abweisung is recorded at frequency rank #49,444, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌvaɪ̯zʊŋ]. Abwendung is at rank #47,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌvɛndʊŋ].

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 96629, this pair ranks #6,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Abweisung vs Abwendung

Shared letters: abegnuw. Private to "Abweisung": is. Private to "Abwendung": d.

"Abweisung" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC  ·  "Abwendung" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abweisung ← abbweisung · abewisung · abweisnug · abweissung · abweisugn · abweisungg · abweisunng · abweiusng
  • Abwendung ← abbwendung · abewndung · abwednung · abwenddung · abwendnug · abwendugn · abwendungg · abwendunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Abweisung" for "Abwendung" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌvaɪ̯zʊŋ] versus [ˈapˌvɛndʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abweisung" vs "Abwendung" - which ranks higher?
"Abwendung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47,185 in our German list, against #49,444 for "Abweisung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abweisung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Abwendung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abweisung" and "Abwendung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abweisend 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 #6,551 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