Which to use
“besaufen” and “betäuben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,169
- “besaufen” frequency rank
- #46,525
- “betäuben” frequency rank
- 91694
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | besaufen | betäuben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alkohol zu sich nehmen | (für bestimmte Zeit) gegen Empfindungen, insbesondere Schmerz, teilweise oder vollständig unempfindlich machen; taub machen |
Where the eye mixes besaufen and betäuben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between besaufen and betäuben
A purely visual mix-up. besaufen ([bəˈzaʊ̯fn̩]) and betäuben ([bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
besaufen is recorded at frequency rank #45,169, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈzaʊ̯fn̩]. betäuben is at rank #46,525, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩].
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 91694, this pair ranks #35,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of besaufen vs betäuben
Shared letters: benu. Private to "besaufen": afs. Private to "betäuben": tä.
"besaufen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "betäuben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- besaufen ← bbesaufen · beasufen · besafuen · besauefn · besaufenn · besauffen · besaufne · bessaufen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "besaufen" and "betäuben" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "besaufen" or "betäuben" show up more?
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 "besaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "betäuben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "besaufen" and "betäuben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bebauten vs betäuben". 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 #35,759 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.