AufrufvsAusrufWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,457
“Aufruf” frequency rank
#39,815
“Ausruf” frequency rank
45272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Aufruf Ausruf
Definition öffentlicher Appell, etwas zu tun oder zu unterlassen meist unwillkürliche, kurze, emotionsbetonte Äußerung

Where the eye mixes Aufruf and Ausruf

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Aufruf and Ausruf follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Aufruf
6 ch
Ausruf

Why the eye confuses Aufruf with Ausruf

A purely visual mix-up. Aufruf ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁuːf]) and Ausruf ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁuːf]) 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 - f in “Aufruf” becomes s in “Ausruf”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Aufruf is recorded at frequency rank #5,457, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌʁuːf]. Ausruf is at rank #39,815, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁuːf].

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 45272, this pair ranks #1,358,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Aufruf vs Ausruf

Shared letters: afru. Private to "Aufruf": -. Private to "Ausruf": s.

"Aufruf" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC  ·  "Ausruf" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aufruf ← afuruf · auffruf · aufrfu · aufrruf · aufruff · aufurf · aurfuf · uafruf
  • Ausruf ← asuruf · aursuf · ausrfu · ausrruf · ausruff · aussruf · ausurf · uasruf

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Aufruf" for "Ausruf" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌʁuːf] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁuːf]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Aufruf" or "Ausruf"?
"Aufruf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,457 in our German list, against #39,815 for "Ausruf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Aufruf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ausruf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,358,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Aufruf" and "Ausruf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Auslauf vs Ausruf". 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 #1,358,702 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