vermessenvsverpissenTell them apart

Quick tell: vermessen is a adjective, verpissen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#19,068
“vermessen” frequency rank
#31,344
“verpissen” frequency rank
50412
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vermessen verpissen
Definition übermäßig ehrgeizig und deshalb riskant sich von einem (meist als unbehaglich empfundenen) Ort entfernen; weggehen

Where the eye mixes vermessen and verpissen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. vermessen 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
vermessen
9 ch
verpissen

Why the eye confuses vermessen with verpissen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vermessen is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩] while verpissen is [fɛɐ̯ˈpɪsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50412, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vermessen is recorded at frequency rank #19,068, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩]. 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 50412, this pair ranks #1,174,627 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vermessen vs verpissen

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "vermessen": m. Private to "verpissen": ip.

"vermessen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verpissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermessen ← evrmessen · vemressen · veremssen · vermesen · vermesesn · vermessenn · vermessne · vermeßen
  • verpissen ← evrpissen · veprissen · veripssen · verpisen · verpisesn · verpissenn · verpissne · verpißen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vermessen" and "verpissen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vermessen" is an adjective and "verpissen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vermessen" or "verpissen"?
"vermessen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,068 in our German list, against #31,344 for "verpissen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vermessen" 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 #1,174,627 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vermessen" 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 #1,174,627 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