veraltetenvsverhaftetenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#23,349
“veralteten” frequency rank
#33,880
“verhafteten” frequency rank
57229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature veralteten verhafteten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs veraltet Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verhaftet

Where the eye mixes veralteten and verhafteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. veralteten runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against verhafteten's 11 (CVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
veralteten
11 ch
verhafteten

Look-alike desk: veralteten vs verhafteten

A purely visual mix-up. veralteten ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltətn̩]) and verhafteten ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaftətn̩]) 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 57229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

veralteten is recorded at frequency rank #23,349, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltətn̩]. verhafteten is at rank #33,880, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftətn̩].

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 57229, this pair ranks #909,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of veralteten vs verhafteten

Shared letters: aenrtv. Private to "veralteten": l. Private to "verhafteten": fh.

"veralteten" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC  ·  "verhafteten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • veraltetenevralteten · vearlteten · veraletten · verallteten · veralteetn · veraltetenn · veraltetne · veraltetten
  • verhaftetenevrhafteten · vehrafteten · verahfteten · verhafetten · verhaffteten · verhafteetn · verhaftetenn · verhaftetne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "veralteten" and "verhafteten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔaltətn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "veralteten" or "verhafteten" show up more?
"veralteten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,349 in our German list, against #33,880 for "verhafteten". 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 "veralteten" and "verhafteten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "veralteten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verhafteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #909,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "veralteten" and "verhafteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vergifteten vs verhafteten". 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 #909,488 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