verfehltvsverführtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,001
“verfehlt” frequency rank
#16,861
“verführt” frequency rank
26862
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfehlt verführt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verfehlen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verführen

Where the eye mixes verfehlt and verführt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verfehlt and verführt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
verfehlt
8 ch
verführt

Visual trap between verfehlt and verführt

A purely visual mix-up. verfehlt ([fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlt]) and verführt ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːɐ̯t]) 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 26862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verfehlt is recorded at frequency rank #10,001, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlt]. verführt is at rank #16,861, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːɐ̯t].

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 26862, this pair ranks #1,811,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verfehlt vs verführt

Shared letters: efhrtv. Private to "verfehlt": l. Private to "verführt": ü.

"verfehlt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "verführt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfehltevrfehlt · vefrehlt · verefhlt · verfehhlt · verfehllt · verfehltt · verfehtl · verfelht

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verfehlt" for "verführt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlt] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verfehlt" or "verführt"?
"verfehlt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,001 in our German list, against #16,861 for "verführt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfehlt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verführt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,811,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfehlt" and "verführt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfrüht vs verführt". 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 #1,811,206 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