Which to use
“abziehen” and “abzielen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,990
- “abziehen” frequency rank
- #39,189
- “abzielen” frequency rank
- 50179
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abziehen | abzielen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich entfernen | es auf etwas absehen, etwas als Ziel ins Visier nehmen |
Where the eye mixes abziehen and abzielen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. abziehen and abzielen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between abziehen and abzielen
A purely visual mix-up. abziehen ([ˈapˌt͡siːən]) and abzielen ([ˈapˌt͡siːlən]) 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 a single letter - h in “abziehen” becomes l in “abzielen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abziehen is recorded at frequency rank #10,990, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌt͡siːən]. abzielen is at rank #39,189, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌt͡siːlən].
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 50179, this pair ranks #1,183,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abziehen vs abzielen
Shared letters: abeinz. Private to "abziehen": h. Private to "abzielen": l.
"abziehen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC · "abzielen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abziehen" for "abzielen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "abziehen" vs "abzielen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "abziehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abzielen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,183,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abziehen" and "abzielen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzielen vs abzielt". 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 #1,183,594 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.