versteigernvsverweigernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,021
“versteigern” frequency rank
#9,293
“verweigern” frequency rank
54314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature versteigern verweigern
Definition bei einer Auktion verkaufen etwas nicht zulassen; eine starrsinnige Haltung einnehmen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set versteigern and verweigern apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
versteigern
10 ch
verweigern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. versteigern ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐn]) and verweigern ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

versteigern is recorded at frequency rank #45,021, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐn]. verweigern is at rank #9,293, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn].

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 54314, this pair ranks #1,023,703 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of versteigern vs verweigern

Shared letters: eginrv. Private to "versteigern": st. Private to "verweigern": w.

"versteigern" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVCC  ·  "verweigern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • versteigernevrsteigern · verrsteigern · versetigern · verssteigern · verstegiern · versteiegrn · versteigenr · versteigernn
  • verweigernevrweigern · verewigern · verrweigern · verwegiern · verweiegrn · verweigenr · verweigernn · verweigerrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "versteigern" and "verweigern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐn] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "versteigern" or "verweigern"?
"verweigern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,293 in our German list, against #45,021 for "versteigern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list