verlassenvsverpissenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#981
“verlassen” frequency rank
#31,344
“verpissen” frequency rank
32325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlassen verpissen
Definition weggehen, sich entfernen sich von einem (meist als unbehaglich empfundenen) Ort entfernen; weggehen

Where the eye mixes verlassen and verpissen

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

9 ch
verlassen
9 ch
verpissen

Visual trap between verlassen and verpissen

A purely visual mix-up. verlassen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]) and verpissen ([fɛɐ̯ˈpɪsn̩]) 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 32325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlassen is recorded at frequency rank #981, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]. verpissen is at rank #31,344, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈpɪsn̩].

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 32325, this pair ranks #1,710,054 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlassen vs verpissen

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verlassen": al. Private to "verpissen": ip.

"verlassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verpissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlassen ← evrlassen · velrassen · veralssen · verlasen · verlasesn · verlassenn · verlassne · verlaßen
  • verpissen ← evrpissen · veprissen · veripssen · verpisen · verpisesn · verpissenn · verpissne · verpißen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlassen" and "verpissen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈpɪsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verlassen" vs "verpissen" - which ranks higher?
"verlassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #981 in our German list, against #31,344 for "verpissen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verlassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verpissen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,710,054 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlassen" and "verpissen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermiesen vs verpissen". 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 #1,710,054 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