Which to use
“scheel” and “scheue” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,250
- “scheel” frequency rank
- #42,110
- “scheue” frequency rank
- 74360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scheel | scheue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schief, schiefblickend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs scheu |
Where the eye mixes scheel and scheue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. scheel (CCCVVC) and scheue (CCCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between scheel and scheue
A purely visual mix-up. scheel ([ʃeːl]) and scheue ([ˈʃɔɪ̯ə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scheel is recorded at frequency rank #32,250, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃeːl]. scheue is at rank #42,110, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə].
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 74360, this pair ranks #335,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of scheel vs scheue
Shared letters: cehs. Private to "scheel": l. Private to "scheue": u.
"scheel" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC · "scheue" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scheel" and "scheue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "scheel" or "scheue" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "scheel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scheue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #335,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scheel" and "scheue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scheue vs schiere". 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 #335,533 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.