Which to use
“geschämt” is a verb and “gescheit” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,854
- “geschämt” frequency rank
- #27,747
- “gescheit” frequency rank
- 69601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | geschämt | gescheit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs schämen | von großer Intelligenz, einen scharfen Verstand habend |
Where the eye mixes geschämt and gescheit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: geschämt vs gescheit
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geschämt is [ɡəˈʃɛːmt] while gescheit is [ɡəˈʃaɪ̯t]. 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 69601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
geschämt is recorded at frequency rank #41,854, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃɛːmt]. gescheit is at rank #27,747, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃaɪ̯t].
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 69601, this pair ranks #471,621 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of geschämt vs gescheit
Shared letters: ceghst. Private to "geschämt": mä. Private to "gescheit": i.
"geschämt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "gescheit" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gescheit ← egscheit · gecsheit · gesccheit · gescehit · gescheitt · gescheti · geschheit · geschiet
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "geschämt" and "gescheit" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "geschämt" or "gescheit" 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 "geschämt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gescheit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #471,621 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "geschämt" and "gescheit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geschämt vs gescheut". 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 #471,621 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.