SchlampevsschlappeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#5,021
“Schlampe” frequency rank
#28,380
“schlappe” frequency rank
33401
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schlampe schlappe
Definition unordentlich, liederliche, ungepflegte Person Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schlapp

Where the eye mixes Schlampe and schlappe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Schlampe and schlappe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Schlampe
8 ch
schlappe

Visual trap between Schlampe and schlappe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schlampe is [ˈʃlampə] while schlappe is [ˈʃlapə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “Schlampe” becomes p in “schlappe”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schlampe is recorded at frequency rank #5,021, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlampə]. schlappe is at rank #28,380, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlapə].

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 33401, this pair ranks #1,686,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schlampe vs schlappe

Shared letters: acehlps. Private to "Schlampe": m. Private to "schlappe": -.

"Schlampe" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV  ·  "schlappe" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schlampe ← cshlampe · scchlampe · schalmpe · schhlampe · schlamep · schlammpe · schlamppe · schlapme
  • schlappe ← cshlappe · scchlappe · schalppe · schhlappe · schlape · schlapep · schllappe · schlpape

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schlampe" for "schlappe" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schlampe" is a noun and "schlappe" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Schlampe" or "schlappe" show up more?
"Schlampe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,021 in our German list, against #28,380 for "schlappe". 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 "Schlampe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schlappe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,686,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schlampe" and "schlappe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schläfe vs schlappe". 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 #1,686,747 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