ausraubenvsausübenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,943
“ausrauben” frequency rank
#7,283
“ausüben” frequency rank
39226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ausrauben ausüben
Definition jemandem alles wegnehmen; etwas vollständig (von Wertvollem) leeren etwas vollstrecken, vollführen, etwas zur Wirkung bringen

Where the eye mixes ausrauben and ausüben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ausrauben runs 9 letters (VVCCVVCVC) against ausüben's 7 (VVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
ausrauben
7 ch
ausüben

Why the eye confuses ausrauben with ausüben

A purely visual mix-up. ausrauben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaʊ̯bn̩]) and ausüben ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʔyːbn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ausrauben is recorded at frequency rank #31,943, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaʊ̯bn̩]. ausüben is at rank #7,283, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sˌʔyːbn̩].

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 39226, this pair ranks #1,542,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ausrauben vs ausüben

Shared letters: abensu. Private to "ausrauben": r. Private to "ausüben": ü.

"ausrauben" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "ausüben" · 7 letters · shape VVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ausrauben ← asurauben · aursauben · ausaruben · ausrabuen · ausraubben · ausraubenn · ausraubne · ausrauebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ausrauben" and "ausüben" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯sˌʁaʊ̯bn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sˌʔyːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ausrauben" or "ausüben" show up more?
"ausüben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,283 in our German list, against #31,943 for "ausrauben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ausrauben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausüben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,542,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ausrauben" and "ausüben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abstauben vs ausrauben". 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 #1,542,588 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