schlendernvsschleudernTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,996
“schlendern” frequency rank
#24,498
“schleudern” frequency rank
63494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schlendern schleudern
Definition ohne bestimmtes Ziel locker und langsam umhergehen transitiv, mit Hilfsverb „haben“:

Where the eye mixes schlendern and schleudern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. schlendern (CCCCVCCVCC) and schleudern (CCCCVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
schlendern
10 ch
schleudern

Why the eye confuses schlendern with schleudern

A purely visual mix-up. schlendern ([ˈʃlɛndɐn]) and schleudern ([ˈʃlɔɪ̯dɐn]) 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 a single letter - n in “schlendern” becomes u in “schleudern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schlendern is recorded at frequency rank #38,996, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃlɛndɐn]. schleudern is at rank #24,498, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃlɔɪ̯dɐn].

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 63494, this pair ranks #674,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schlendern vs schleudern

Shared letters: cdehlnrs. Private to "schlendern": -. Private to "schleudern": u.

"schlendern" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVCCVCC  ·  "schleudern" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schlendern ← cshlendern · scchlendern · schelndern · schhlendern · schlednern · schlenddern · schlendenr · schlendernn
  • schleudern ← cshleudern · scchleudern · scheludern · schhleudern · schleduern · schleuddern · schleudenr · schleudernn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schlendern" and "schleudern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃlɛndɐn] versus [ˈʃlɔɪ̯dɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schlendern" or "schleudern" show up more?
"schleudern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,498 in our German list, against #38,996 for "schlendern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schlendern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schleudern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #674,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schlendern" and "schleudern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schlendern vs schleudert". 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 #674,818 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