Which to use
“Schlemmer” is a noun and “schlimmen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,223
- “Schlemmer” frequency rank
- #13,009
- “schlimmen” frequency rank
- 62232
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schlemmer | schlimmen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand, der gern gut und viel isst | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schlimm |
Where the eye mixes Schlemmer and schlimmen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Schlemmer and schlimmen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Schlemmer with schlimmen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schlemmer is [ˈʃlɛmɐ] while schlimmen is [ˈʃlɪmən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schlemmer is recorded at frequency rank #49,223, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlɛmɐ]. schlimmen is at rank #13,009, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlɪmən].
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 62232, this pair ranks #720,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Schlemmer vs schlimmen
Shared letters: cehlms. Private to "Schlemmer": r. Private to "schlimmen": in.
"Schlemmer" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC · "schlimmen" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Schlemmer" and "schlimmen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Schlemmer" or "schlimmen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Schlemmer" and "schlimmen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schlemmer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schlimmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #720,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schlemmer" and "schlimmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schlemmer vs Schleuser". 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 #720,475 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.