Which to use
“Scheer” is a name and “Speer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,349
- “Scheer” frequency rank
- #15,217
- “Speer” frequency rank
- 49566
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Scheer | Speer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Stadt in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland | Waffe zum Werfen und Stechen, bestehend aus einer Stange mit einer Spitze (meist aus Metall oder Stein) an einem Ende; leichter als die nur zum Stechen bestimmte Lanze |
Where the eye mixes Scheer and Speer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Scheer vs Speer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Scheer is [ʃeːɐ̯] while Speer is [ʃpeːɐ̯]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Scheer is recorded at frequency rank #34,349, classified as aname, pronounced [ʃeːɐ̯]. Speer is at rank #15,217, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpeːɐ̯].
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 49566, this pair ranks #1,206,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Scheer vs Speer
Shared letters: ers. Private to "Scheer": ch. Private to "Speer": p.
"Scheer" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC · "Speer" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Scheer" for "Speer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Scheer" vs "Speer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Scheer" and "Speer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Scheer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Speer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,206,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Scheer" and "Speer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Scheer vs Schreier". 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 #1,206,630 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.