Which to use
“enttäuschen” is a verb and “enttäuscht” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,405
- “enttäuschen” frequency rank
- #2,890
- “enttäuscht” frequency rank
- 19295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enttäuschen | enttäuscht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Hoffnung, einen Wunsch oder eine Erwartung nicht erfüllen oder zerstören | negativ überrascht, eine schlechte Erfahrung machend |
Where the eye mixes enttäuschen and enttäuscht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. enttäuschen runs 11 letters (VCCCVVCCCVC) against enttäuscht's 10 (VCCCVVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: enttäuschen vs enttäuscht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enttäuschen is [ɛntˈtɔɪ̯ʃn̩] while enttäuscht is [ɛntˈtɔɪ̯ʃt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enttäuschen is recorded at frequency rank #16,405, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈtɔɪ̯ʃn̩]. enttäuscht is at rank #2,890, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛntˈtɔɪ̯ʃt].
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 19295, this pair ranks #1,909,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enttäuschen vs enttäuscht
Shared letters: cehnstuä. Private to "enttäuschen": -. Private to "enttäuscht": -.
"enttäuschen" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVVCCCVC · "enttäuscht" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVVCCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "enttäuschen" for "enttäuscht" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "enttäuschen" or "enttäuscht" show up more?
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 "enttäuschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enttäuscht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,909,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enttäuschen" and "enttäuscht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enttäuschen vs enttäuschten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,909,850 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.