ausgewachsenvsausgewichenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ausgewachsen is a adjective, ausgewichen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ausgewachsen” is an adjective and “ausgewichen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,733
“ausgewachsen” frequency rank
#33,446
“ausgewichen” frequency rank
82179
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausgewachsen ausgewichen
Definition das Wachstum abgeschlossen habend Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ausweichen

Where the eye mixes ausgewachsen and ausgewichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. ausgewachsen runs 12 letters (VVCCVCVCCCVC) against ausgewichen's 11 (VVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
ausgewachsen
11 ch
ausgewichen

Why the eye confuses ausgewachsen with ausgewichen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ausgewachsen is [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvaksn̩] while ausgewichen is [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɪçn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausgewachsen is recorded at frequency rank #48,733, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvaksn̩]. ausgewichen is at rank #33,446, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˌvɪçn̩].

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 82179, this pair ranks #161,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ausgewachsen vs ausgewichen

Shared letters: aceghnsuw. Private to "ausgewachsen": -. Private to "ausgewichen": i.

"ausgewachsen" · 12 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCCVC  ·  "ausgewichen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausgewachsen ← asugewachsen · augsewachsen · ausegwachsen · ausgeawchsen · ausgewacchsen · ausgewachesn · ausgewachhsen · ausgewachsenn
  • ausgewichen ← asugewichen · augsewichen · ausegwichen · ausgeiwchen · ausgewcihen · ausgewicchen · ausgewicehn · ausgewichenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ausgewachsen" for "ausgewichen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ausgewachsen" is an adjective and "ausgewichen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ausgewachsen" vs "ausgewichen" - which ranks higher?
"ausgewichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,446 in our German list, against #48,733 for "ausgewachsen". 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 "ausgewachsen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgewichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #161,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausgewachsen" and "ausgewichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ausgewachsen vs ausgewachsene". 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 #161,922 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