schleichenvsSchlicheWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#21,763
“schleichen” frequency rank
#43,470
“Schliche” frequency rank
65233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schleichen Schliche
Definition lautlos gehen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Schlich

Where the eye mixes schleichen and Schliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. schleichen runs 10 letters (CCCCVVCCVC) against Schliche's 8 (CCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
schleichen
8 ch
Schliche

Why the eye confuses schleichen with Schliche

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schleichen is [ˈʃlaɪ̯çn̩] while Schliche is [ˈʃlɪçə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 65233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schleichen is recorded at frequency rank #21,763, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃlaɪ̯çn̩]. Schliche is at rank #43,470, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlɪçə].

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 65233, this pair ranks #613,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schleichen vs Schliche

Shared letters: cehils. Private to "schleichen": n. Private to "Schliche": -.

"schleichen" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVVCCVC  ·  "Schliche" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schleichen ← cshleichen · scchleichen · schelichen · schhleichen · schlecihen · schleicchen · schleicehn · schleichenn
  • Schliche ← cshliche · scchliche · schhliche · schilche · schlcihe · schlicche · schliceh · schlichhe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schleichen" and "Schliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schleichen" is a verb and "Schliche" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "schleichen" or "Schliche" show up more?
"schleichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,763 in our German list, against #43,470 for "Schliche". 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 "schleichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #613,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schleichen" and "Schliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schliche vs schlucke". 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 #613,972 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