Which to use
“scheue” is an adjective and “Schwur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,110
- “scheue” frequency rank
- #29,776
- “Schwur” frequency rank
- 71886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scheue | Schwur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs scheu | verbindliche Festlegung auf etwas |
Where the eye mixes scheue and Schwur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. scheue (CCCVVV) and Schwur (CCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between scheue and Schwur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scheue is [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə] while Schwur is [ʃvuːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71886, 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]. Schwur is at rank #29,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃvuːɐ̯].
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 71886, this pair ranks #404,002 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of scheue vs Schwur
Shared letters: chsu. Private to "scheue": e. Private to "Schwur": rw.
"scheue" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVV · "Schwur" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scheue" for "Schwur" ever safe?
Which is more common, "scheue" or "Schwur"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "scheue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Schwur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,002 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scheue" and "Schwur" 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 #404,002 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.