SchurkevsSchütteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#49,237
“Schurke” frequency rank
#27,925
“Schütte” frequency rank
77162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schurke Schütte
Definition jemand, der moralisch verwerflich handelt Behälter zur Aufbewahrung von Schüttgut

Where the eye mixes Schurke and Schütte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Schurke and Schütte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Schurke
7 ch
Schütte

Visual trap between Schurke and Schütte

A purely visual mix-up. Schurke ([ˈʃʊʁkə]) and Schütte ([ˈʃʏtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schurke is recorded at frequency rank #49,237, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʊʁkə]. Schütte is at rank #27,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʏtə].

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 77162, this pair ranks #267,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Schurke vs Schütte

Shared letters: cehs. Private to "Schurke": kru. Private to "Schütte": tü.

"Schurke" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schütte" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schurke ← cshurke · scchurke · schhurke · schruke · schukre · schurek · schurkke · schurrke

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schurke" and "Schütte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʊʁkə] versus [ˈʃʏtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Schurke" or "Schütte"?
"Schütte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,925 in our German list, against #49,237 for "Schurke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schurke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schütte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #267,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schurke" and "Schütte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schlucke vs Schurke". 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 #267,079 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