verlaufen

[fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]

/[fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“verlaufen” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #5,126. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,126
frequency rank, German
4,163
“V” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - irgendwohin gehen und sich dabei verirren

Corpus desk

Index DE-verlaufen · verlaufen · German

verlaufen · rank #5,126 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,126
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,163
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ursprung

Nearest frequency peer: Ursprung (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „verlaufen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „verlaufen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

verlaufen vs verläuft
67% similar
verlaufen vs versauen
78% similar
verlaufen vs Vorläufer
56% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for verlaufen
PropertyValue
Headwordverlaufen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#5,126
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „verlaufen“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).verlaufenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Ursprung“ (#5,125), „verpassen“ (#5,127), „unterschreiben“ (#5,124). Unter 4,163 „V“-Lemmata liegt „verlaufen“ bei #5,126. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around verlaufen (IPA [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,126 among 4,163 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for verlaufen, with forms such as "evrlaufen", "velraufen", and "veralufen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "verläuft", "versauen", "Vorläufer", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is verlaufen, spelled V-E-R-L-A-U-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    irgendwohin gehen und sich dabei verirren
  2. 2
    sich zerstreuen
  3. 3
    sich entfernen, verschwinden
  4. 4
    eine Richtung einschlagen
  5. 5
    auf eine bestimmte Art und Weise geschehen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how verlaufen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Hänsel und Gretel haben sich im Wald verlaufen.
  2. In der ungewohnten Umgebung verläuft man sich schnell mal.

Synonyms

abgeratenabkommenin die Irre gehenirregehenverfranzenverirrenverteilenzerstreuenentfernenverschwindengehenerstreckenhinziehenablaufengeschehen

This word in other languages

stray(English)perderse(Español)s'égarer(Français)desaparecer(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • evrlaufen
  • velraufen
  • veralufen
  • verlafuen
  • verlauefn
  • verlaufenn
  • verlauffen
  • verlaufne
  • verllaufen
  • verluafen
  • verrlaufen
  • vrelaufen
  • vverlaufen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of verlaufen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

evrlaufen2velraufen2veralufen2verlafuen2verlauefn2verlaufenn1verlauffen1verlaufne2
Edit distance from "verlaufen"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "verlaufen"?
"verlaufen" is spelled V-E-R-L-A-U-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩].
What does "verlaufen" mean?
As a verb, "verlaufen" means: irgendwohin gehen und sich dabei verirren
What words are commonly confused with "verlaufen"?
"verlaufen" is commonly confused with "verläuft", "versauen", "Vorläufer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "verlaufen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "verlaufen" is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "verlaufen" come from?
"verlaufen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "verlaufen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

verpassen#5,127Vorgänger#5,130unendlich#5,121vorliegen#5,131

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

Ursprung13 variantsSpringer13 variantsAufregung13 variantsModerator13 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list