Which to use
“Schah” and “Scham” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,385
- “Schah” frequency rank
- #12,373
- “Scham” frequency rank
- 50758
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schah | Scham |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | persischer, afghanischer, nordindischer sowie osmanischer Herrschertitel | angstbesetztes Empfinden, das meist durch eigenes und von anderen beobachtbares Fehlverhalten ausgelöst wird, durch das man deren Achtung zu verlieren droht |
Where the eye mixes Schah and Scham
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Schah vs Scham
A purely visual mix-up. Schah ([ʃaː]) and Scham ([ʃaːm]) 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 - h in “Schah” becomes m in “Scham”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schah is recorded at frequency rank #38,385, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaː]. Scham is at rank #12,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃaːm].
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 50758, this pair ranks #1,161,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Schah vs Scham
Shared letters: achs. Private to "Schah": -. Private to "Scham": m.
"Schah" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC · "Scham" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schah" for "Scham" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Schah" vs "Scham" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Scham" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,161,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schah" and "Scham" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schah vs Schalk". 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 #1,161,618 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.