Which to use
“verschweigen” and “verschwenden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,314
- “verschweigen” frequency rank
- #12,820
- “verschwenden” frequency rank
- 29134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschweigen | verschwenden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bewusst nicht sagen oder aussprechen | unnötig viele Mittel, Ressourcen einsetzen; etwas erfolglos, sinnlos, planlos, unrationell aufwenden; vergeuden |
Where the eye mixes verschweigen and verschwenden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschweigen (CVCCCCCVVCVC) and verschwenden (CVCCCCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: verschweigen vs verschwenden
A purely visual mix-up. verschweigen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and verschwenden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndn̩]) 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 29134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschweigen is recorded at frequency rank #16,314, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡn̩]. verschwenden is at rank #12,820, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndn̩].
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 29134, this pair ranks #1,772,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschweigen vs verschwenden
Shared letters: cehnrsvw. Private to "verschweigen": gi. Private to "verschwenden": d.
"verschweigen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVVCVC · "verschwenden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschweigen ← evrschweigen · vercshweigen · verrschweigen · verscchweigen · verschewigen · verschhweigen · verschwegien · verschweiegn
- verschwenden ← evrschwenden · vercshwenden · verrschwenden · verscchwenden · verschewnden · verschhwenden · verschwednen · verschwendden
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verschweigen" and "verschwenden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verschweigen" or "verschwenden" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "verschweigen" and "verschwenden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschweigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verschwenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,772,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschweigen" and "verschwenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwenden vs verschwendete". 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 #1,772,393 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.