verführenvsverwahrenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,860
“verführen” frequency rank
#47,094
“verwahren” frequency rank
63954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verführen verwahren
Definition an einen anderen Ort führen (etwas für jemanden) vorübergehend in den eigenen sicheren Besitz übernehmen (nicht als Eigentum)

Where the eye mixes verführen and verwahren

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

9 ch
verführen
9 ch
verwahren

Visual trap between verführen and verwahren

A purely visual mix-up. verführen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən]) and verwahren ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaːʁən]) 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 63954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verführen is recorded at frequency rank #16,860, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən]. verwahren is at rank #47,094, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaːʁən].

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 63954, this pair ranks #658,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verführen vs verwahren

Shared letters: ehnrv. Private to "verführen": fü. Private to "verwahren": aw.

"verführen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verwahren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verwahren ← evrwahren · verawhren · verrwahren · verwahern · verwahhren · verwahrenn · verwahrne · verwahrren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verführen" for "verwahren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verführen" or "verwahren" show up more?
"verführen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,860 in our German list, against #47,094 for "verwahren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "verführen" and "verwahren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verführen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verwahren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #658,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verführen" and "verwahren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwahren vs Vorwahlen". 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 #658,489 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