Which to use
“vermeiden” and “verweisen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,369
- “vermeiden” frequency rank
- #7,421
- “verweisen” frequency rank
- 9790
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vermeiden | verweisen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas wenn möglich nicht tun; so handeln, dass etwas möglichst nicht passiert | auf etwas Anderes aufmerksam machen |
Where the eye mixes vermeiden and verweisen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vermeiden and verweisen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between vermeiden and verweisen
A purely visual mix-up. vermeiden ([fɛɐ̯ˈmaɪ̯dn̩]) and verweisen ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 9790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vermeiden is recorded at frequency rank #2,369, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmaɪ̯dn̩]. verweisen is at rank #7,421, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩].
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 9790, this pair ranks #1,978,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vermeiden vs verweisen
Shared letters: einrv. Private to "vermeiden": dm. Private to "verweisen": sw.
"vermeiden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "verweisen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vermeiden" and "verweisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "vermeiden" or "verweisen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vermeiden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,978,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vermeiden" and "verweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verspeisen vs verweisen". 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 #1,978,280 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.