verleitenvsverzeihenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,451
“verleiten” frequency rank
#12,200
“verzeihen” frequency rank
40651
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verleiten verzeihen
Definition jemanden zu einer Handlung veranlassen, die er von sich aus nicht gemacht hätte jemandem etwas nachsehen

Where the eye mixes verleiten and verzeihen

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

9 ch
verleiten
9 ch
verzeihen

Visual trap between verleiten and verzeihen

A purely visual mix-up. verleiten ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]) and verzeihen ([fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ən]) 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 40651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verleiten is recorded at frequency rank #28,451, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]. verzeihen is at rank #12,200, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ən].

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 40651, this pair ranks #1,502,307 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verleiten vs verzeihen

Shared letters: einrv. Private to "verleiten": lt. Private to "verzeihen": hz.

"verleiten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "verzeihen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verleitenevrleiten · velreiten · vereliten · verleietn · verleitenn · verleitne · verleitten · verletien
  • verzeihenevrzeihen · verezihen · verrzeihen · verzehien · verzeiehn · verzeihenn · verzeihhen · verzeihne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verleiten" and "verzeihen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯tn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡saɪ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verleiten" or "verzeihen"?
"verzeihen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,200 in our German list, against #28,451 for "verleiten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verleiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verzeihen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,502,307 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verleiten" and "verzeihen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vereiteln vs verleiten". 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 #1,502,307 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