SchildevsSchuldTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,693
“Schilde” frequency rank
#999
“Schuld” frequency rank
24692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schilde Schuld
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Schild Verbindlichkeit, Pflicht, etwas zu tun oder zu unterlassen

Where the eye mixes Schilde and Schuld

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Schilde
6 ch
Schuld

Visual trap between Schilde and Schuld

A purely visual mix-up. Schilde ([ˈʃɪldə]) and Schuld ([ʃʊlt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schilde is recorded at frequency rank #23,693, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɪldə]. Schuld is at rank #999, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃʊlt].

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 24692, this pair ranks #1,844,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schilde vs Schuld

Shared letters: cdhls. Private to "Schilde": ei. Private to "Schuld": u.

"Schilde" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schuld" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schildecshilde · scchilde · schhilde · schidle · schildde · schiled · schillde · schlide
  • Schuldcshuld · scchuld · schhuld · schlud · schudl · schuldd · schulld · scuhld

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schilde" for "Schuld" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɪldə] versus [ʃʊlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Schilde" vs "Schuld" - which ranks higher?
"Schuld" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #999 in our German list, against #23,693 for "Schilde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Schilde" and "Schuld" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schilde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schuld" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,844,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schilde" and "Schuld" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schilde vs schrille". 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 #1,844,070 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