Which to use
“anspielen” and “ausspielen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,119
- “anspielen” frequency rank
- #25,053
- “ausspielen” frequency rank
- 70172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | anspielen | ausspielen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Spielgerät (Ball, Puck etc.) gezielt auf einen Mitspieler platzieren | sein Spiel mit jemandem treiben, ihn austricksen, hintergehen, täuschen, überlisten |
Where the eye mixes anspielen and ausspielen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. anspielen runs 9 letters (VCCCVVCVC) against ausspielen's 10 (VVCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: anspielen vs ausspielen
A purely visual mix-up. anspielen ([ˈanˌʃpiːlən]) and ausspielen ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʃpiːlən]) 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 70172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
anspielen is recorded at frequency rank #45,119, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌʃpiːlən]. ausspielen is at rank #25,053, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʃpiːlən].
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 70172, this pair ranks #454,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of anspielen vs ausspielen
Shared letters: aeilnps. Private to "anspielen": -. Private to "ausspielen": u.
"anspielen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC · "ausspielen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- anspielen ← annspielen · anpsielen · ansipelen · anspeilen · anspieeln · anspielenn · anspiellen · anspielne
- ausspielen ← asuspielen · auspielen · auspsielen · aussipelen · ausspeilen · ausspieeln · ausspielenn · ausspiellen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "anspielen" for "ausspielen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "anspielen" or "ausspielen" show up more?
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 "anspielen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ausspielen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #454,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "anspielen" and "ausspielen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anspielen vs aufspielen". 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 #454,350 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.