puzzlesvsshameWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“puzzles” and “shame” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,986
“puzzles” frequency rank
#43,491
“shame” frequency rank
93477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature puzzles shame
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs puzzle jemanden beschämen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set puzzles and shame apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
puzzles
5 ch
shame

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

puzzles and shame are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

puzzles is recorded at frequency rank #49,986, classified as averb, pronounced […]. shame is at rank #43,491, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 93477, this pair ranks #22,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of puzzles vs shame

Shared letters: es. Private to "puzzles": lpuz. Private to "shame": ahm.

"puzzles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • puzzlesppuzzles · puzles · puzlzes · puzzels · puzzless · puzzlles · puzzlse · pzuzles
  • shamehsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame

Frequency comparison

puzzles#49,986
shame#43,491

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "puzzles" and "shame" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "puzzles" or "shame"?
"shame" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,491 in our German list, against #49,986 for "puzzles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering puzzles vs shame

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “puzzles” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list