Which to use
“verdorben” and “verworren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,767
- “verdorben” frequency rank
- #49,356
- “verworren” frequency rank
- 70123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verdorben | verworren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | als Essen schlecht geworden, als Lebensmittel nicht mehr zum Verzehr geeignet | ineinander verschachtelt, verknotet; kompliziert |
Where the eye mixes verdorben and verworren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verdorben and verworren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verdorben and verworren
A purely visual mix-up. verdorben ([fɛɐ̯ˈdɔʁbn̩]) 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 70123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verdorben is recorded at frequency rank #20,767, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɔʁbn̩]. 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 70123, this pair ranks #455,812 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verdorben vs verworren
Shared letters: enorv. Private to "verdorben": bd. Private to "verworren": w.
"verdorben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verworren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verdorben" and "verworren" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verdorben" or "verworren" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verdorben" 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 #455,812 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verdorben" 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 #455,812 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.