Which to use
“verwahren” and “verwehren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,094
- “verwahren” frequency rank
- #31,351
- “verwehren” frequency rank
- 78445
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verwahren | verwehren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (etwas für jemanden) vorübergehend in den eigenen sicheren Besitz übernehmen (nicht als Eigentum) | nicht erlauben, nicht gestatten, verbieten, versperren; jemandem etwas nicht gewähren |
Where the eye mixes verwahren and verwehren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verwahren and verwehren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verwahren and verwehren
A purely visual mix-up. verwahren ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaːʁən]) and verwehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈveːʁən]) 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 a single letter - a in “verwahren” becomes e in “verwehren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verwahren is recorded at frequency rank #47,094, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaːʁən]. verwehren is at rank #31,351, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈveːʁən].
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 78445, this pair ranks #238,214 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verwahren vs verwehren
Shared letters: ehnrvw. Private to "verwahren": a. Private to "verwehren": -.
"verwahren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verwehren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verwahren" for "verwehren" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verwahren" vs "verwehren" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verwahren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verwehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,214 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verwahren" and "verwehren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwahren vs Vorwahlen". 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 #238,214 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.