Which to use
“verwerfen” and “vorwerfen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,099
- “verwerfen” frequency rank
- #14,205
- “vorwerfen” frequency rank
- 50304
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verwerfen | vorwerfen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (nach reiflicher Überlegung) etwas aufgeben, nicht weiter verfolgen, weil es als nicht mehr annehmbar, brauchbar, durchführbar, geeignet, tauglich, realisierbar oder dergleichen befunden wird | jemandem tadelnd sagen, dass er oder sie sich unrichtig verhält oder Fehler macht |
Where the eye mixes verwerfen and vorwerfen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verwerfen and vorwerfen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verwerfen vs vorwerfen
A purely visual mix-up. verwerfen ([fɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁfn̩]) and vorwerfen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvɛʁfn̩]) 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 - e in “verwerfen” becomes o in “vorwerfen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verwerfen is recorded at frequency rank #36,099, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁfn̩]. vorwerfen is at rank #14,205, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvɛʁfn̩].
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 50304, this pair ranks #1,178,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verwerfen vs vorwerfen
Shared letters: efnrvw. Private to "verwerfen": -. Private to "vorwerfen": o.
"verwerfen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "vorwerfen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verwerfen" for "vorwerfen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verwerfen" vs "vorwerfen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "verwerfen" and "vorwerfen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verwerfen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vorwerfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,178,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verwerfen" and "vorwerfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwerfen 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 #1,178,780 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.