abzuwehrenvsabzuweisenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,176
“abzuwehren” frequency rank
#47,186
“abzuweisen” frequency rank
74362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abzuwehren abzuweisen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs abwehren erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs abweisen

Where the eye mixes abzuwehren and abzuweisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. abzuwehren (VCCVCVCCVC) and abzuweisen (VCCVCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
abzuwehren
10 ch
abzuweisen

Visual trap between abzuwehren and abzuweisen

A purely visual mix-up. abzuwehren ([ˈapt͡suˌveːʁən]) and abzuweisen ([ˈapt͡suˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 74362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abzuwehren is recorded at frequency rank #27,176, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌveːʁən]. abzuweisen is at rank #47,186, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapt͡suˌvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 74362, this pair ranks #335,474 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abzuwehren vs abzuweisen

Shared letters: abenuwz. Private to "abzuwehren": hr. Private to "abzuweisen": is.

"abzuwehren" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "abzuweisen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abzuwehrenabbzuwehren · abuzwehren · abzuewhren · abzuwehern · abzuwehhren · abzuwehrenn · abzuwehrne · abzuwehrren
  • abzuweisenabbzuweisen · abuzweisen · abzuewisen · abzuweiesn · abzuweisenn · abzuweisne · abzuweissen · abzuwesien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abzuwehren" and "abzuweisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapt͡suˌveːʁən] versus [ˈapt͡suˌvaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abzuwehren" vs "abzuweisen" - which ranks higher?
"abzuwehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,176 in our German list, against #47,186 for "abzuweisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abzuwehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abzuweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #335,474 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abzuwehren" and "abzuweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abzuweisen vs aufzuweisen". 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 #335,474 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