bedrohenvsbetrogenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,245
“bedrohen” frequency rank
#11,192
“betrogen” frequency rank
25437
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bedrohen betrogen
Definition jemanden durch die Ankündigung von Gewalt oder Sanktionen einschüchtern oder zwingen, etwas zu tun 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs betrügen

Where the eye mixes bedrohen and betrogen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
bedrohen
8 ch
betrogen

Why the eye confuses bedrohen with betrogen

A purely visual mix-up. bedrohen ([bəˈdʁoːən]) and betrogen ([bəˈtʁoːɡn̩]) 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 25437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bedrohen is recorded at frequency rank #14,245, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈdʁoːən]. betrogen is at rank #11,192, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁoːɡn̩].

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 25437, this pair ranks #1,833,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bedrohen vs betrogen

Shared letters: benor. Private to "bedrohen": dh. Private to "betrogen": gt.

"bedrohen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "betrogen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bedrohenbbedrohen · bderohen · beddrohen · bedorhen · bedrhoen · bedroehn · bedrohenn · bedrohhen
  • betrogenbbetrogen · bertogen · betorgen · betrgoen · betroegn · betrogenn · betroggen · betrogne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bedrohen" and "betrogen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈdʁoːən] versus [bəˈtʁoːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "bedrohen" or "betrogen" show up more?
"betrogen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,192 in our German list, against #14,245 for "bedrohen". 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 "bedrohen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betrogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,833,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bedrohen" and "betrogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Betrages vs betrogen". 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 #1,833,310 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