schlimmerevsSchwimmerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: schlimmere is a adjective, Schwimmer is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#22,875
“schlimmere” frequency rank
#13,690
“Schwimmer” frequency rank
36565
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schlimmere Schwimmer
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs schlimm schwimmender Mensch

Where the eye mixes schlimmere and Schwimmer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
schlimmere
9 ch
Schwimmer

Look-alike desk: schlimmere vs Schwimmer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schlimmere is [ˈʃlɪməʁə] while Schwimmer is [ˈʃvɪmɐ]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schlimmere is recorded at frequency rank #22,875, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlɪməʁə]. Schwimmer is at rank #13,690, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃvɪmɐ].

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 36565, this pair ranks #1,612,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schlimmere vs Schwimmer

Shared letters: cehimrs. Private to "schlimmere": l. Private to "Schwimmer": w.

"schlimmere" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVCCVCV  ·  "Schwimmer" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schlimmerecshlimmere · scchlimmere · schhlimmere · schilmmere · schlimemre · schlimere · schlimmeer · schlimmerre
  • Schwimmercshwimmer · scchwimmer · schhwimmer · schiwmmer · schwimemr · schwimer · schwimmerr · schwimmre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schlimmere" and "Schwimmer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schlimmere" is an adjective and "Schwimmer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "schlimmere" or "Schwimmer" show up more?
"Schwimmer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,690 in our German list, against #22,875 for "schlimmere". 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 "schlimmere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schwimmer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,612,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schlimmere" and "Schwimmer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schlemmer vs schlimmere". 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 #1,612,335 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