befugtvsbefülltWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,060
“befugt” frequency rank
#36,822
“befüllt” frequency rank
61882
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befugt befüllt
Definition die Befugnis, das Recht, die Bevollmächtigung zu etwas besitzend gefüllt, mit Inhalt versehen sein

Where the eye mixes befugt and befüllt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
befugt
7 ch
befüllt

Why the eye confuses befugt with befüllt

A purely visual mix-up. befugt ([bəˈfuːkt]) and befüllt ([bəˈfʏlt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befugt is recorded at frequency rank #25,060, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfuːkt]. befüllt is at rank #36,822, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfʏlt].

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 61882, this pair ranks #733,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of befugt vs befüllt

Shared letters: beft. Private to "befugt": gu. Private to "befüllt": .

"befugt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "befüllt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befugtbbefugt · beffugt · befgut · befuggt · befugtt · befutg · beufgt · bfeugt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "befugt" and "befüllt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfuːkt] versus [bəˈfʏlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "befugt" or "befüllt"?
"befugt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,060 in our German list, against #36,822 for "befüllt". 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 "befugt" and "befüllt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "befugt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "befüllt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #733,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befugt" and "befüllt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befüllt vs bellt". 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 #733,178 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