Which to use
“scheuen” is a verb and “schiefen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,380
- “scheuen” frequency rank
- #40,818
- “schiefen” frequency rank
- 59198
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scheuen | schiefen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas (häufig aus Angst) vermeiden oder meiden | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schief |
Where the eye mixes scheuen and schiefen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. scheuen runs 7 letters (CCCVVVC) against schiefen's 8 (CCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: scheuen vs schiefen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scheuen is [ˈʃɔɪ̯ən] while schiefen is [ˈʃiːfn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scheuen is recorded at frequency rank #18,380, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɔɪ̯ən]. schiefen is at rank #40,818, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃiːfn̩].
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 59198, this pair ranks #833,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scheuen vs schiefen
Shared letters: cehns. Private to "scheuen": u. Private to "schiefen": fi.
"scheuen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVVC · "schiefen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "scheuen" and "schiefen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "scheuen" vs "schiefen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "scheuen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schiefen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #833,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scheuen" and "schiefen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiefen vs schlieren". 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 #833,568 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.