Which to use
“bestaunen” and “betäuben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,049
- “bestaunen” frequency rank
- #46,525
- “betäuben” frequency rank
- 69574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestaunen | betäuben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas mit Anerkennung/Verwunderung betrachten, anschauen | (für bestimmte Zeit) gegen Empfindungen, insbesondere Schmerz, teilweise oder vollständig unempfindlich machen; taub machen |
Where the eye mixes bestaunen and betäuben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bestaunen runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against betäuben's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bestaunen and betäuben
A purely visual mix-up. bestaunen ([bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestaunen is recorded at frequency rank #23,049, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən]. 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 69574, this pair ranks #472,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bestaunen vs betäuben
Shared letters: bentu. Private to "bestaunen": as. Private to "betäuben": ä.
"bestaunen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "betäuben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bestaunen ← bbestaunen · besatunen · besstaunen · bestanuen · bestauenn · bestaunenn · bestaunne · bestaunnen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bestaunen" and "betäuben" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bestaunen" vs "betäuben" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "bestaunen" and "betäuben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bestaunen" 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 #472,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestaunen" and "betäuben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besaufen 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 #472,482 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.