labernvslobenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,674
“labern” frequency rank
#10,688
“loben” frequency rank
32362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labern loben
Definition ohne Substanz und/oder unnötig lange, gewunden und umständlich, wortreich reden oder monologisieren eine wertschätzende Aussage machen

Where the eye mixes labern and loben

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

6 ch
labern
5 ch
loben

Look-alike desk: labern vs loben

A purely visual mix-up. labern ([ˈlaːbɐn]) and loben ([ˈloːbn̩]) 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 32362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labern is recorded at frequency rank #21,674, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaːbɐn]. loben is at rank #10,688, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈloːbn̩].

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 32362, this pair ranks #1,709,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of labern vs loben

Shared letters: beln. Private to "labern": ar. Private to "loben": o.

"labern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "loben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labernlabbern · labenr · labernn · laberrn · labren · laebrn · lbaern · llabern
  • lobenlboen · lloben · lobben · lobenn · lobne · loebn · olben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "labern" for "loben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaːbɐn] versus [ˈloːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "labern" vs "loben" - which ranks higher?
"loben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,688 in our German list, against #21,674 for "labern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "labern" and "loben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "labern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "loben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,709,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labern" and "loben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "labern vs Lasern". 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 #1,709,272 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