Which to use
“verbleiben” and “verkleiden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,259
- “verbleiben” frequency rank
- #22,948
- “verkleiden” frequency rank
- 36207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verbleiben | verkleiden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich auf etwas verständigen | sich mit einem Kostüm versehen; kostümieren; formelle Kleidung anziehen |
Where the eye mixes verbleiben and verkleiden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verbleiben and verkleiden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verbleiben vs verkleiden
A purely visual mix-up. verbleiben ([fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩]) and verkleiden ([fɛɐ̯ˈklaɪ̯dn̩]) 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 36207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verbleiben is recorded at frequency rank #13,259, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩]. verkleiden is at rank #22,948, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈklaɪ̯dn̩].
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 36207, this pair ranks #1,621,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verbleiben vs verkleiden
Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verbleiben": b. Private to "verkleiden": dk.
"verbleiben" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC · "verkleiden" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verbleiben ← evrbleiben · vebrleiben · verbbleiben · verbeliben · verblebien · verbleibben · verbleibenn · verbleibne
- verkleiden ← evrkleiden · vekrleiden · verkeliden · verkkleiden · verkledien · verkleidden · verkleidenn · verkleidne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verbleiben" for "verkleiden" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verbleiben" or "verkleiden" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "verbleiben" and "verkleiden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verbleiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verkleiden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,621,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verbleiben" and "verkleiden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verkleiden vs verkleidete". 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 #1,621,393 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.