verehrenvsverfehlenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,663
“verehren” frequency rank
#26,213
“verfehlen” frequency rank
52876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verehren verfehlen
Definition jemandem mit großer Hochachtung und Bewunderung begegnen ein Ziel nicht treffen, nicht erreichen

Where the eye mixes verehren and verfehlen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verehren runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against verfehlen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verehren
9 ch
verfehlen

Visual trap between verehren and verfehlen

A purely visual mix-up. verehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔeːʁən]) and verfehlen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verehren is recorded at frequency rank #26,663, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔeːʁən]. verfehlen is at rank #26,213, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlən].

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 52876, this pair ranks #1,079,839 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verehren vs verfehlen

Shared letters: ehnrv. Private to "verehren": -. Private to "verfehlen": fl.

"verehren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "verfehlen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verehren ← evrehren · veerhren · verehern · verehhren · verehrenn · verehrne · verehrren · vererhen
  • verfehlen ← evrfehlen · vefrehlen · verefhlen · verfeheln · verfehhlen · verfehlenn · verfehllen · verfehlne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verehren" for "verfehlen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔeːʁən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verehren" vs "verfehlen" - which ranks higher?
"verfehlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,213 in our German list, against #26,663 for "verehren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verfehlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,079,839 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verehren" and "verfehlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verehren vs verwahren". 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 #1,079,839 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