verehrtenvsverfehltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,838
“verehrten” frequency rank
#42,907
“verfehlten” frequency rank
73745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verehrten verfehlten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verehrt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfehlt

Where the eye mixes verehrten and verfehlten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verehrten runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCVC) against verfehlten's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
verehrten
10 ch
verfehlten

Visual trap between verehrten and verfehlten

A purely visual mix-up. verehrten ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔeːɐ̯tn̩]) and verfehlten ([fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltn̩]) 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 73745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verehrten is recorded at frequency rank #30,838, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔeːɐ̯tn̩]. verfehlten is at rank #42,907, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltn̩].

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 73745, this pair ranks #352,046 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verehrten vs verfehlten

Shared letters: ehnrtv. Private to "verehrten": -. Private to "verfehlten": fl.

"verehrten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "verfehlten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verehrtenevrehrten · veerhrten · verehhrten · verehretn · verehrrten · verehrtenn · verehrtne · verehrtten
  • verfehltenevrfehlten · vefrehlten · verefhlten · verfehhlten · verfehletn · verfehllten · verfehltenn · verfehltne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verehrten" for "verfehlten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔeːɐ̯tn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verehrten" vs "verfehlten" - which ranks higher?
"verehrten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,838 in our German list, against #42,907 for "verfehlten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verehrten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verfehlten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #352,046 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verehrten" and "verfehlten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfehlten vs verkehrten". 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 #352,046 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