verschlingenvsverschwindenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,219
“verschlingen” frequency rank
#2,863
“verschwinden” frequency rank
29082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschlingen verschwinden
Definition (auch übertragen) gierig oder hastig in sich aufnehmen, essen, fressen aufhören zu existieren, sich in Nichts auflösen

Where the eye mixes verschlingen and verschwinden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschlingen and verschwinden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
verschlingen
12 ch
verschwinden

Look-alike desk: verschlingen vs verschwinden

A purely visual mix-up. verschlingen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃlɪŋən]) and verschwinden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndn̩]) 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 29082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschlingen is recorded at frequency rank #26,219, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃlɪŋən]. verschwinden is at rank #2,863, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndn̩].

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 29082, this pair ranks #1,773,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verschlingen vs verschwinden

Shared letters: cehinrsv. Private to "verschlingen": gl. Private to "verschwinden": dw.

"verschlingen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC  ·  "verschwinden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschlingen ← evrschlingen · vercshlingen · verrschlingen · verscchlingen · verschhlingen · verschilngen · verschlignen · verschlinegn
  • verschwinden ← evrschwinden · vercshwinden · verrschwinden · verscchwinden · verschhwinden · verschiwnden · verschwidnen · verschwindden

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verschlingen" and "verschwinden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃlɪŋən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verschlingen" or "verschwinden" show up more?
"verschwinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,863 in our German list, against #26,219 for "verschlingen". 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 "verschlingen" and "verschwinden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verschlingen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwinden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,773,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschlingen" and "verschwinden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschlingen vs verschlingt". 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 #1,773,384 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