verharrenvsverwahrenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,434
“verharren” frequency rank
#47,094
“verwahren” frequency rank
81528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verharren verwahren
Definition seinen Zustand / seine Stellung nicht ändern (etwas für jemanden) vorübergehend in den eigenen sicheren Besitz übernehmen (nicht als Eigentum)

Where the eye mixes verharren and verwahren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verharren 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
verharren
9 ch
verwahren

Visual trap between verharren and verwahren

A purely visual mix-up. verharren ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaʁən]) 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 81528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verharren is recorded at frequency rank #34,434, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaʁən]. 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 81528, this pair ranks #174,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verharren vs verwahren

Shared letters: aehnrv. Private to "verharren": -. Private to "verwahren": w.

"verharren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verwahren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verharren ← evrharren · vehrarren · verahrren · verharen · verharern · verharrenn · verharrne · verhharren
  • verwahren ← evrwahren · verawhren · verrwahren · verwahern · verwahhren · verwahrenn · verwahrne · verwahrren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verharren" for "verwahren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaʁən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verharren" vs "verwahren" - which ranks higher?
"verharren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,434 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verharren" 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 #174,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verharren" 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 #174,047 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