schierevsschmiertTell them apart

Quick tell: schiere is a adjective, schmiert is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schiere” is an adjective and “schmiert” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,567
“schiere” frequency rank
#44,202
“schmiert” frequency rank
89769
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schiere schmiert
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schier 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schmieren

Where the eye mixes schiere and schmiert

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

7 ch
schiere
8 ch
schmiert

Visual trap between schiere and schmiert

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schiere is [ˈʃiːʁə] while schmiert is [ʃmiːɐ̯t]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schiere is recorded at frequency rank #45,567, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃiːʁə]. schmiert is at rank #44,202, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃmiːɐ̯t].

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 89769, this pair ranks #53,824 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schiere vs schmiert

Shared letters: cehirs. Private to "schiere": -. Private to "schmiert": mt.

"schiere" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "schmiert" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schierecshiere · scchiere · scheire · schhiere · schieer · schierre · schiree · shciere
  • schmiertcshmiert · scchmiert · schhmiert · schmeirt · schmierrt · schmiertt · schmietr · schmiret

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schiere" and "schmiert" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schiere" is an adjective and "schmiert" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schiere" or "schmiert"?
"schmiert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,202 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schiere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schmiert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,824 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schiere" and "schmiert" 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 #53,824 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