schmiedenvsSchmiereWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#20,050
“schmieden” frequency rank
#48,457
“Schmiere” frequency rank
68507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schmieden Schmiere
Definition Metall mit Hitze und einem Hammer bearbeiten ölige, fetthaltige Substanz, besonders Schmiermittel und Schuhcreme

Where the eye mixes schmieden and Schmiere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schmieden runs 9 letters (CCCCVVCVC) against Schmiere's 8 (CCCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
schmieden
8 ch
Schmiere

Visual trap between schmieden and Schmiere

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schmieden is [ˈʃmiːdn̩] while Schmiere is [ˈʃmiːʁə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schmieden is recorded at frequency rank #20,050, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃmiːdn̩]. Schmiere is at rank #48,457, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃmiːʁə].

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 68507, this pair ranks #505,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schmieden vs Schmiere

Shared letters: cehims. Private to "schmieden": dn. Private to "Schmiere": r.

"schmieden" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVVCVC  ·  "Schmiere" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schmieden ← cshmieden · scchmieden · schhmieden · schimeden · schmeiden · schmideen · schmiedden · schmiedenn
  • Schmiere ← cshmiere · scchmiere · schhmiere · schimere · schmeire · schmieer · schmierre · schmiree

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schmieden" for "Schmiere" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schmieden" is a verb and "Schmiere" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schmieden" or "Schmiere"?
"schmieden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,050 in our German list, against #48,457 for "Schmiere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schmieden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schmiere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #505,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schmieden" and "Schmiere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schlieren vs Schmiere". 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 #505,513 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