Which to use
“Scham” and “Schlamm” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,373
- “Scham” frequency rank
- #13,229
- “Schlamm” frequency rank
- 25602
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Scham | Schlamm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | angstbesetztes Empfinden, das meist durch eigenes und von anderen beobachtbares Fehlverhalten ausgelöst wird, durch das man deren Achtung zu verlieren droht | mit Wasser vermischte Erde, Morast |
Where the eye mixes Scham and Schlamm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Scham with Schlamm
A purely visual mix-up. Scham ([ʃaːm]) and Schlamm ([ʃlam]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Scham is recorded at frequency rank #12,373, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaːm]. Schlamm is at rank #13,229, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃlam].
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 25602, this pair ranks #1,830,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Scham vs Schlamm
Shared letters: achms. Private to "Scham": -. Private to "Schlamm": l.
"Scham" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC · "Schlamm" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Scham" and "Schlamm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Scham" or "Schlamm" 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 "Scham" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Schlamm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,830,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Scham" and "Schlamm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schläfe vs Schlamm". 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 #1,830,792 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.