Which to use
“verhört” is a verb and “verstört” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,174
- “verhört” frequency rank
- #22,198
- “verstört” frequency rank
- 46372
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhört | verstört |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhören | (nicht krankhaft) seelisch oder geistig verwirrt (meist plötzlich und für kurze Zeit) |
Where the eye mixes verhört and verstört
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verhört runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against verstört's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verhört with verstört
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhört is [fɛɐ̯ˈhøːɐ̯t] while verstört is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯t]. 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 46372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verhört is recorded at frequency rank #24,174, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhøːɐ̯t]. verstört is at rank #22,198, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯t].
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 46372, this pair ranks #1,321,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhört vs verstört
Shared letters: ertvö. Private to "verhört": h. Private to "verstört": s.
"verhört" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "verstört" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verhört" for "verstört" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verhört" vs "verstört" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verhört" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verstört" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,321,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhört" and "verstört" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhören vs verhört". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,321,315 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.