verschlagenvsverschlungenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#28,002
“verschlagen” frequency rank
#24,978
“verschlungen” frequency rank
52980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschlagen verschlungen
Definition auf geschickte und verdeckte Art und Weise eigennützig Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verschlingen

Where the eye mixes verschlagen and verschlungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschlagen runs 11 letters (CVCCCCCVCVC) against verschlungen's 12 (CVCCCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
verschlagen
12 ch
verschlungen

Why the eye confuses verschlagen with verschlungen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschlagen is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃlaːɡn̩] while verschlungen is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃlʊŋən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschlagen is recorded at frequency rank #28,002, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃlaːɡn̩]. verschlungen is at rank #24,978, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃlʊŋən].

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 52980, this pair ranks #1,075,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verschlagen vs verschlungen

Shared letters: ceghlnrsv. Private to "verschlagen": a. Private to "verschlungen": u.

"verschlagen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCVC  ·  "verschlungen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschlagen ← evrschlagen · vercshlagen · verrschlagen · verscchlagen · verschalgen · verschhlagen · verschlaegn · verschlagenn
  • verschlungen ← evrschlungen · vercshlungen · verrschlungen · verscchlungen · verschhlungen · verschllungen · verschlnugen · verschlugnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verschlagen" and "verschlungen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verschlagen" is an adjective and "verschlungen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verschlagen" vs "verschlungen" - which ranks higher?
"verschlungen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,978 in our German list, against #28,002 for "verschlagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verschlagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschlungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,075,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschlagen" and "verschlungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschlungen vs Versuchungen". 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 #1,075,740 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