scheintvsscheutTell them apart

Which to use

“scheint” and “scheut” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#496
“scheint” frequency rank
#26,152
“scheut” frequency rank
26648
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scheint scheut
Definition 2. Person Plural Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs scheinen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scheuen

Where the eye mixes scheint and scheut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
scheint
6 ch
scheut

Visual trap between scheint and scheut

A purely visual mix-up. scheint ([ʃaɪ̯nt]) and scheut ([ʃɔɪ̯t]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scheint is recorded at frequency rank #496, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃaɪ̯nt]. scheut is at rank #26,152, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃɔɪ̯t].

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 26648, this pair ranks #1,814,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of scheint vs scheut

Shared letters: cehst. Private to "scheint": in. Private to "scheut": u.

"scheint" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCC  ·  "scheut" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scheintcsheint · sccheint · scehint · scheinnt · scheintt · scheitn · schenit · schheint
  • scheutcsheut · sccheut · scehut · schetu · scheutt · schheut · schuet · shceut

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "scheint" and "scheut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃaɪ̯nt] versus [ʃɔɪ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "scheint" vs "scheut" - which ranks higher?
"scheint" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #496 in our German list, against #26,152 for "scheut". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "scheint" and "scheut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scheint" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scheut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,814,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scheint" and "scheut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scheut vs shut". 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 #1,814,719 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list