veranlassenvsverblassenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,405
“veranlassen” frequency rank
#34,963
“verblassen” frequency rank
47368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature veranlassen verblassen
Definition einen Auftrag erteilen mit der Zeit (als Farbe) weniger kräftig (blasser) werden

Where the eye mixes veranlassen and verblassen

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

11 ch
veranlassen
10 ch
verblassen

Look-alike desk: veranlassen vs verblassen

A purely visual mix-up. veranlassen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔanˌlasn̩]) and verblassen ([fɛɐ̯ˈblasn̩]) 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 47368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

veranlassen is recorded at frequency rank #12,405, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔanˌlasn̩]. verblassen is at rank #34,963, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈblasn̩].

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 47368, this pair ranks #1,286,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of veranlassen vs verblassen

Shared letters: aelnrsv. Private to "veranlassen": -. Private to "verblassen": b.

"veranlassen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC  ·  "verblassen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • veranlassen ← evranlassen · vearnlassen · veralnassen · veranalssen · veranlasen · veranlasesn · veranlassenn · veranlassne
  • verblassen ← evrblassen · vebrlassen · verbalssen · verbblassen · verblasen · verblasesn · verblassenn · verblassne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "veranlassen" and "verblassen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔanˌlasn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈblasn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "veranlassen" or "verblassen" show up more?
"veranlassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,405 in our German list, against #34,963 for "verblassen". 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 "veranlassen" and "verblassen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "veranlassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verblassen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,286,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "veranlassen" and "verblassen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbissen vs verblassen". 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 #1,286,713 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