verborgenvsverworrenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,345
“verborgen” frequency rank
#49,356
“verworren” frequency rank
60701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verborgen verworren
Definition aufgrund der versteckten, abgelegenen Lage schwer zu erreichen oder zu finden ineinander verschachtelt, verknotet; kompliziert

Where the eye mixes verborgen and verworren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verborgen and verworren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
verborgen
9 ch
verworren

Look-alike desk: verborgen vs verworren

A purely visual mix-up. verborgen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɔʁɡn̩]) and verworren ([fɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁən]) 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 60701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verborgen is recorded at frequency rank #11,345, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɔʁɡn̩]. verworren is at rank #49,356, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁən].

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 60701, this pair ranks #777,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verborgen vs verworren

Shared letters: enorv. Private to "verborgen": bg. Private to "verworren": w.

"verborgen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verworren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verborgenevrborgen · vebrorgen · verbborgen · verbogren · verboregn · verborgenn · verborggen · verborgne
  • verworrenevrworren · verowrren · verrworren · verworen · verworern · verworrenn · verworrne · verwroren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verborgen" for "verworren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɔʁɡn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verborgen" vs "verworren" - which ranks higher?
"verborgen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,345 in our German list, against #49,356 for "verworren". 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 "verborgen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verworren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #777,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verborgen" and "verworren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwahren vs verworren". 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 #777,185 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