SchimmelvsschlimmesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Schimmel is a noun, schlimmes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Schimmel” is a noun and “schlimmes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,818
“Schimmel” frequency rank
#9,801
“schlimmes” frequency rank
26619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schimmel schlimmes
Definition weißes Pferd Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schlimm

Where the eye mixes Schimmel and schlimmes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Schimmel runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against schlimmes's 9 (CCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Schimmel
9 ch
schlimmes

Look-alike desk: Schimmel vs schlimmes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schimmel is [ˈʃɪml̩] while schlimmes is [ˈʃlɪməs]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schimmel is recorded at frequency rank #16,818, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɪml̩]. schlimmes is at rank #9,801, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlɪməs].

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 26619, this pair ranks #1,815,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schimmel vs schlimmes

Shared letters: cehilms. Private to "Schimmel": -. Private to "schlimmes": -.

"Schimmel" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schlimmes" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schimmelcshimmel · scchimmel · schhimmel · schimel · schimeml · schimmell · schimmle · schmimel
  • schlimmescshlimmes · scchlimmes · schhlimmes · schilmmes · schlimems · schlimes · schlimmess · schlimmse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schimmel" and "schlimmes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schimmel" is a noun and "schlimmes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Schimmel" vs "schlimmes" - which ranks higher?
"schlimmes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,801 in our German list, against #16,818 for "Schimmel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schimmel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schlimmes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,815,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schimmel" and "schlimmes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schimmel vs Schirme". 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 #1,815,221 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