Which to use
“verwahren” is a verb and “verworren” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,094
- “verwahren” frequency rank
- #49,356
- “verworren” frequency rank
- 96450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verwahren | verworren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (etwas für jemanden) vorübergehend in den eigenen sicheren Besitz übernehmen (nicht als Eigentum) | ineinander verschachtelt, verknotet; kompliziert |
Where the eye mixes verwahren and verworren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verwahren and verworren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verwahren with verworren
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verwahren is [fɛɐ̯ˈvaːʁən] while verworren is [fɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 96450, 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]. verworren is at rank #49,356, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁən].
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 96450, this pair ranks #7,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verwahren vs verworren
Shared letters: enrvw. Private to "verwahren": ah. Private to "verworren": o.
"verwahren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verworren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verwahren" for "verworren" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verwahren" or "verworren"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verwahren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verworren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verwahren" and "verworren" 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 #7,276 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.