schielevsSchmiereWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: schiele is a verb, Schmiere is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schiele” is a verb and “Schmiere” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,389
“schiele” frequency rank
#48,457
“Schmiere” frequency rank
86846
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schiele Schmiere
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schielen ölige, fetthaltige Substanz, besonders Schmiermittel und Schuhcreme

Where the eye mixes schiele and Schmiere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. schiele runs 7 letters (CCCVVCV) against Schmiere's 8 (CCCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
schiele
8 ch
Schmiere

Why the eye confuses schiele with Schmiere

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schiele is [ˈʃiːlə] while Schmiere is [ˈʃmiːʁə]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86846, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schiele is recorded at frequency rank #38,389, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃiːlə]. Schmiere is at rank #48,457, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃmiːʁə].

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 86846, this pair ranks #88,192 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schiele vs Schmiere

Shared letters: cehis. Private to "schiele": l. Private to "Schmiere": mr.

"schiele" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "Schmiere" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schiele ← cshiele · scchiele · scheile · schhiele · schieel · schielle · schilee · scihele
  • Schmiere ← cshmiere · scchmiere · schhmiere · schimere · schmeire · schmieer · schmierre · schmiree

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schiele" for "Schmiere" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schiele" is a verb and "Schmiere" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schiele" or "Schmiere"?
"schiele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,389 in our German list, against #48,457 for "Schmiere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schiele" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schmiere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #88,192 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schiele" and "Schmiere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schlieren 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 #88,192 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