schickevsschiereTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,720
“schicke” frequency rank
#45,567
“schiere” frequency rank
52287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schicke schiere
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schick Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schier

Where the eye mixes schicke and schiere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. schicke (CCCVCCV) and schiere (CCCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
schicke
7 ch
schiere

Why the eye confuses schicke with schiere

A purely visual mix-up. schicke ([ˈʃɪkə]) and schiere ([ˈʃiːʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schicke is recorded at frequency rank #6,720, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃɪkə]. schiere is at rank #45,567, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃiːʁə].

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 52287, this pair ranks #1,102,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schicke vs schiere

Shared letters: cehis. Private to "schicke": k. Private to "schiere": r.

"schicke" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "schiere" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schicke ← cshicke · scchicke · schcike · schhicke · schiccke · schicek · schickke · schikce
  • schiere ← cshiere · scchiere · scheire · schhiere · schieer · schierre · schiree · shciere

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schicke" and "schiere" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɪkə] versus [ˈʃiːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schicke" or "schiere" show up more?
"schicke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,720 in our German list, against #45,567 for "schiere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schicke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schiere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,102,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schicke" and "schiere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiere vs Schmiere". 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 #1,102,690 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