Which to use
“verwehren” and “verwirren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,351
- “verwehren” frequency rank
- #19,759
- “verwirren” frequency rank
- 51110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verwehren | verwirren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht erlauben, nicht gestatten, verbieten, versperren; jemandem etwas nicht gewähren | jemanden durcheinander bringen |
Where the eye mixes verwehren and verwirren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verwehren and verwirren 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 verwehren with verwirren
A purely visual mix-up. verwehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈveːʁən]) and verwirren ([fɛɐ̯ˈvɪʁən]) 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 51110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verwehren is recorded at frequency rank #31,351, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈveːʁən]. verwirren is at rank #19,759, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvɪʁən].
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 51110, this pair ranks #1,148,063 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verwehren vs verwirren
Shared letters: enrvw. Private to "verwehren": h. Private to "verwirren": i.
"verwehren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verwirren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verwehren" and "verwirren" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verwehren" or "verwirren" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verwehren" and "verwirren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verwehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verwirren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,148,063 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verwehren" and "verwirren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwehren vs verworren". 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 #1,148,063 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.