scheuevsSchleuseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: scheue is a adjective, Schleuse is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“scheue” is an adjective and “Schleuse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,110
“scheue” frequency rank
#16,274
“Schleuse” frequency rank
58384
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scheue Schleuse
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs scheu verschließbares Tor zur Regulierung verschieden hoher Wasserstände

Where the eye mixes scheue and Schleuse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
scheue
8 ch
Schleuse

Visual trap between scheue and Schleuse

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scheue is [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə] while Schleuse is [ˈʃlɔɪ̯zə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scheue is recorded at frequency rank #42,110, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə]. Schleuse is at rank #16,274, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlɔɪ̯zə].

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 58384, this pair ranks #864,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of scheue vs Schleuse

Shared letters: cehsu. Private to "scheue": -. Private to "Schleuse": l.

"scheue" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVV  ·  "Schleuse" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scheuecsheue · sccheue · scehue · scheeu · schheue · schuee · shceue · sscheue
  • Schleusecshleuse · scchleuse · scheluse · schhleuse · schlesue · schleues · schleusse · schlleuse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "scheue" for "Schleuse" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scheue" is an adjective and "Schleuse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "scheue" vs "Schleuse" - which ranks higher?
"Schleuse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,274 in our German list, against #42,110 for "scheue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "scheue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schleuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #864,848 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scheue" and "Schleuse" 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 #864,848 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