Which to use
“verwundet” is an adjective and “verwüstet” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,621
- “verwundet” frequency rank
- #21,120
- “verwüstet” frequency rank
- 33741
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verwundet | verwüstet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich eine physische Wunde zugezogen habend | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verwüsten |
Where the eye mixes verwundet and verwüstet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verwundet and verwüstet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verwundet and verwüstet
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verwundet is [fɛɐ̯ˈvʊndət] while verwüstet is [fɛɐ̯ˈvyːstət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verwundet is recorded at frequency rank #12,621, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvʊndət]. verwüstet is at rank #21,120, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvyːstət].
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 33741, this pair ranks #1,679,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verwundet vs verwüstet
Shared letters: ertvw. Private to "verwundet": dnu. Private to "verwüstet": sü.
"verwundet" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verwüstet" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verwundet ← evrwundet · verrwundet · veruwndet · verwnudet · verwudnet · verwunddet · verwundett · verwundte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verwundet" for "verwüstet" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verwundet" or "verwüstet" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verwundet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verwüstet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,679,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verwundet" and "verwüstet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verlustes vs verwüstet". 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 #1,679,099 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.