AbwendungvsAbwertungTell them apart

Which to use

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

#47,185
“Abwendung” frequency rank
#24,598
“Abwertung” frequency rank
71783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abwendung Abwertung
Definition Wegdrehen; Rückzug aus einer Situation Verringerung des Wertes einer Währung

Where the eye mixes Abwendung and Abwertung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Abwendung and Abwertung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Abwendung
9 ch
Abwertung

Look-alike desk: Abwendung vs Abwertung

A purely visual mix-up. Abwendung ([ˈapˌvɛndʊŋ]) and Abwertung ([ˈapˌveːɐ̯tʊŋ]) 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 71783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abwendung is recorded at frequency rank #47,185, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌvɛndʊŋ]. Abwertung is at rank #24,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌveːɐ̯tʊŋ].

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 71783, this pair ranks #406,948 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Abwendung vs Abwertung

Shared letters: abegnuw. Private to "Abwendung": d. Private to "Abwertung": rt.

"Abwendung" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "Abwertung" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abwendung ← abbwendung · abewndung · abwednung · abwenddung · abwendnug · abwendugn · abwendungg · abwendunng
  • Abwertung ← abbwertung · abewrtung · abwerrtung · abwertnug · abwerttung · abwertugn · abwertungg · abwertunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Abwendung" and "Abwertung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌvɛndʊŋ] versus [ˈapˌveːɐ̯tʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abwendung" vs "Abwertung" - which ranks higher?
"Abwertung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,598 in our German list, against #47,185 for "Abwendung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abwendung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Abwertung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #406,948 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abwendung" and "Abwertung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abweisung 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 #406,948 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