verbissenvsverwiesenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,700
“verbissen” frequency rank
#7,248
“verwiesen” frequency rank
43948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbissen verwiesen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verbeißen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verweisen

Where the eye mixes verbissen and verwiesen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verbissen (CVCCVCCVC) and verwiesen (CVCCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
verbissen
9 ch
verwiesen

Visual trap between verbissen and verwiesen

A purely visual mix-up. verbissen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪsn̩]) and verwiesen ([fɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) 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 43948, 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]. verwiesen is at rank #7,248, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩].

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 43948, this pair ranks #1,401,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verbissen vs verwiesen

Shared letters: einrsv. Private to "verbissen": b. Private to "verwiesen": w.

"verbissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verwiesen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbissen ← evrbissen · vebrissen · verbbissen · verbisen · verbisesn · verbissenn · verbissne · verbißen
  • verwiesen ← evrwiesen · veriwesen · verrwiesen · verwieesn · verwiesenn · verwiesne · verwiessen · verwiseen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbissen" and "verwiesen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɪsn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verbissen" or "verwiesen"?
"verwiesen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,248 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 "verwiesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,401,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbissen" and "verwiesen" 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 #1,401,933 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