verhöhntvsverpöntWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verhöhnt is a verb, verpönt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verhöhnt” is a verb and “verpönt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,437
“verhöhnt” frequency rank
#36,095
“verpönt” frequency rank
70532
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhöhnt verpönt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhöhnen von der Gesellschaft, von anderen Menschen für schlecht gehalten, unerwünscht

Where the eye mixes verhöhnt and verpönt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verhöhnt runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCC) against verpönt's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verhöhnt
7 ch
verpönt

Look-alike desk: verhöhnt vs verpönt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhöhnt is [fɛɐ̯ˈhøːnt] while verpönt is [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈpøːnt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhöhnt is recorded at frequency rank #34,437, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhøːnt]. verpönt is at rank #36,095, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈpøːnt].

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 70532, this pair ranks #443,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verhöhnt vs verpönt

Shared letters: enrtvö. Private to "verhöhnt": h. Private to "verpönt": p.

"verhöhnt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "verpönt" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verhöhnt" and "verpönt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verhöhnt" is a verb and "verpönt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "verhöhnt" or "verpönt" show up more?
"verhöhnt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,437 in our German list, against #36,095 for "verpönt". 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 "verhöhnt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verpönt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #443,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verhöhnt" and "verpönt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verplant vs verpönt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #443,516 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