verbindlichevsvorbildlicheConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,420
“verbindliche” frequency rank
#30,856
“vorbildliche” frequency rank
49276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbindliche vorbildliche
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verbindlich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vorbildlich

Where the eye mixes verbindliche and vorbildliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verbindliche and vorbildliche follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
verbindliche
12 ch
vorbildliche

Visual trap between verbindliche and vorbildliche

A purely visual mix-up. verbindliche ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪçə]) and vorbildliche ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌbɪltlɪçə]) 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 49276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbindliche is recorded at frequency rank #18,420, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪçə]. vorbildliche is at rank #30,856, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌbɪltlɪçə].

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 49276, this pair ranks #1,217,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verbindliche vs vorbildliche

Shared letters: bcdehilrv. Private to "verbindliche": n. Private to "vorbildliche": o.

"verbindliche" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCCV  ·  "vorbildliche" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbindliche ← evrbindliche · vebrindliche · verbbindliche · verbidnliche · verbinddliche · verbindilche · verbindlcihe · verbindlicche
  • vorbildliche ← ovrbildliche · vobrildliche · vorbbildliche · vorbidlliche · vorbilddliche · vorbildilche · vorbildlcihe · vorbildlicche

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verbindliche" and "vorbildliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪntlɪçə] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌbɪltlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verbindliche" or "vorbildliche"?
"verbindliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,420 in our German list, against #30,856 for "vorbildliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbindliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorbildliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,217,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbindliche" and "vorbildliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbindliche vs verbindlichen". 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 #1,217,520 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