Which to use
“schüchtern” is an adjective and “schultern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,363
- “schüchtern” frequency rank
- #6,351
- “schultern” frequency rank
- 16714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schüchtern | schultern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | anderen gegenüber gehemmt | transitiv: |
Where the eye mixes schüchtern and schultern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: schüchtern vs schultern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schüchtern is [ˈʃʏçtɐn] while schultern is [ˈʃʊltɐn]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schüchtern is recorded at frequency rank #10,363, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃʏçtɐn]. schultern is at rank #6,351, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʊltɐn].
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 16714, this pair ranks #1,933,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schüchtern vs schultern
Shared letters: cehnrst. Private to "schüchtern": ü. Private to "schultern": lu.
"schüchtern" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCCCVCC · "schultern" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- schultern ← cshultern · scchultern · schhultern · schlutern · schuletrn · schulltern · schultenr · schulternn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schüchtern" and "schultern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "schüchtern" or "schultern"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "schüchtern" and "schultern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "schüchtern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schultern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,933,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schüchtern" and "schultern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schüchtern vs schüchterne". 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 #1,933,579 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.