verbissenvsvermissenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,700
“verbissen” frequency rank
#5,781
“vermissen” frequency rank
42481
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbissen vermissen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verbeißen feststellen, wahrnehmen, dass jemand oder etwas fehlt

Where the eye mixes verbissen and vermissen

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

9 ch
verbissen
9 ch
vermissen

Why the eye confuses verbissen with vermissen

A purely visual mix-up. verbissen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪsn̩]) and vermissen ([fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “verbissen” becomes m in “vermissen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbissen is recorded at frequency rank #36,700, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɪsn̩]. vermissen is at rank #5,781, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩].

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 42481, this pair ranks #1,447,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verbissen vs vermissen

Shared letters: einrsv. Private to "verbissen": b. Private to "vermissen": m.

"verbissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vermissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbissen ← evrbissen · vebrissen · verbbissen · verbisen · verbisesn · verbissenn · verbissne · verbißen
  • vermissen ← evrmissen · vemrissen · verimssen · vermisen · vermisesn · vermissenn · vermissne · vermißen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbissen" and "vermissen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪsn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verbissen" vs "vermissen" - which ranks higher?
"vermissen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,781 in our German list, against #36,700 for "verbissen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbissen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vermissen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,447,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbissen" and "vermissen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbissen vs vermiesen". 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 #1,447,969 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