Which to use
“Scham” is a noun and “Siam” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,373
- “Scham” frequency rank
- #46,278
- “Siam” frequency rank
- 58651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Scham | Siam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | angstbesetztes Empfinden, das meist durch eigenes und von anderen beobachtbares Fehlverhalten ausgelöst wird, durch das man deren Achtung zu verlieren droht | Königreich in Südostasien, größtenteils auf dem Gebiet des heutigen Thailands |
Where the eye mixes Scham and Siam
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Scham runs 5 letters (CCCVC) against Siam's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Scham and Siam
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Scham is [ʃaːm] while Siam is [ˈziːam]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58651, 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]. Siam is at rank #46,278, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈziːam].
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 58651, this pair ranks #854,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Scham vs Siam
Shared letters: ams. Private to "Scham": ch. Private to "Siam": i.
"Scham" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC · "Siam" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Scham" and "Siam" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Scham" vs "Siam" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "Siam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #854,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Scham" and "Siam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Siam vs Sire". 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 #854,508 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.