überbietenvsüberwiegenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#20,474
“überbieten” frequency rank
#16,069
“überwiegen” frequency rank
36543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überbieten überwiegen
Definition einen Wert, eine Zahl/Größe übertreffen, ein höheres Ergebnis erzielen die Mehrheit haben, sich deshalb durchsetzen und die Oberhand gewinnen

Where the eye mixes überbieten and überwiegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. überbieten and überwiegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
überbieten
10 ch
überwiegen

Why the eye confuses überbieten with überwiegen

A purely visual mix-up. überbieten ([ˌyːbɐˈbiːtn̩]) and überwiegen ([ˌyːbɐˈviːɡn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überbieten is recorded at frequency rank #20,474, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈbiːtn̩]. überwiegen is at rank #16,069, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈviːɡn̩].

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 36543, this pair ranks #1,612,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überbieten vs überwiegen

Shared letters: beinrü. Private to "überbieten": t. Private to "überwiegen": gw.

"überbieten" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVC  ·  "überwiegen" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "überbieten" and "überwiegen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈbiːtn̩] versus [ˌyːbɐˈviːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "überbieten" vs "überwiegen" - which ranks higher?
"überwiegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,069 in our German list, against #20,474 for "überbieten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "überbieten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überwiegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,612,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überbieten" and "überwiegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überbieten vs überfielen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,612,945 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