Which to use
“lästern” and “lauern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,671
- “lästern” frequency rank
- #23,210
- “lauern” frequency rank
- 54881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lästern | lauern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch verächtliches Gerede beleidigen (insbesondere Gott, etwas Heiliges) | im Hintergrund beobachten, ausspähen |
Where the eye mixes lästern and lauern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lästern runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against lauern's 6 (CVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lästern and lauern
A purely visual mix-up. lästern ([ˈlɛstɐn]) and lauern ([ˈlaʊ̯ɐn]) 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 54881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lästern is recorded at frequency rank #31,671, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛstɐn]. lauern is at rank #23,210, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ɐn].
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 54881, this pair ranks #1,001,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lästern vs lauern
Shared letters: elnr. Private to "lästern": stä. Private to "lauern": au.
"lästern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "lauern" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lauern ← aluern · laeurn · lauenr · lauernn · lauerrn · lauren · llauern · luaern
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lästern" and "lauern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "lästern" or "lauern" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lästern" and "lauern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lästern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lauern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,001,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lästern" and "lauern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs lästern". 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 #1,001,322 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.