Which to use
“verschwenden” and “verschwindet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,820
- “verschwenden” frequency rank
- #4,947
- “verschwindet” frequency rank
- 17767
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschwenden | verschwindet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unnötig viele Mittel, Ressourcen einsetzen; etwas erfolglos, sinnlos, planlos, unrationell aufwenden; vergeuden | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verschwinden |
Where the eye mixes verschwenden and verschwindet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschwenden and verschwindet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verschwenden vs verschwindet
A purely visual mix-up. verschwenden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndn̩]) and verschwindet ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndət]) 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 17767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschwenden is recorded at frequency rank #12,820, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɛndn̩]. verschwindet is at rank #4,947, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃvɪndət].
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 17767, this pair ranks #1,924,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschwenden vs verschwindet
Shared letters: cdehnrsvw. Private to "verschwenden": -. Private to "verschwindet": it.
"verschwenden" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC · "verschwindet" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschwenden ← evrschwenden · vercshwenden · verrschwenden · verscchwenden · verschewnden · verschhwenden · verschwednen · verschwendden
- verschwindet ← evrschwindet · vercshwindet · verrschwindet · verscchwindet · verschhwindet · verschiwndet · verschwidnet · verschwinddet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verschwenden" for "verschwindet" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verschwenden" or "verschwindet" 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 "verschwenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verschwindet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,924,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschwenden" and "verschwindet" 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 #1,924,475 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.