AufregungvsAuslegungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,141
“Aufregung” frequency rank
#9,147
“Auslegung” frequency rank
14288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Aufregung Auslegung
Definition Gefühl der Anspannung und Unruhe Versuch, die Bedeutung eines geistigen Produktes zu erschließen

Where the eye mixes Aufregung and Auslegung

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

9 ch
Aufregung
9 ch
Auslegung

Look-alike desk: Aufregung vs Auslegung

A purely visual mix-up. Aufregung ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁeːɡʊŋ]) and Auslegung ([ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡʊŋ]) 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 14288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Aufregung is recorded at frequency rank #5,141, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁeːɡʊŋ]. Auslegung is at rank #9,147, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡʊŋ].

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 14288, this pair ranks #1,952,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Aufregung vs Auslegung

Shared letters: aegnu. Private to "Aufregung": fr. Private to "Auslegung": ls.

"Aufregung" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCVCC  ·  "Auslegung" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aufregung ← afuregung · aufergung · auffregung · aufreggung · aufregnug · aufregugn · aufregungg · aufregunng
  • Auslegung ← asulegung · aulsegung · auselgung · ausleggung · auslegnug · auslegugn · auslegungg · auslegunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Aufregung" and "Auslegung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁeːɡʊŋ] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌleːɡʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Aufregung" or "Auslegung" show up more?
"Aufregung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,141 in our German list, against #9,147 for "Auslegung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Aufregung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Auslegung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,952,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Aufregung" and "Auslegung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auslegung vs Auslegungen". 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 #1,952,267 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