SchurkenvsSchürzeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,780
“Schurken” frequency rank
#27,924
“Schürze” frequency rank
59704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schurken Schürze
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Schurke ein Kleidungsstück, welches man über der restlichen Kleidung trägt, um diese vor Schmutz zu schützen

Where the eye mixes Schurken and Schürze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Schurken runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against Schürze's 7 (CCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Schurken
7 ch
Schürze

Look-alike desk: Schurken vs Schürze

A purely visual mix-up. Schurken ([ˈʃʊʁkən]) and Schürze ([ˈʃʏʁt͡sə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schurken is recorded at frequency rank #31,780, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʊʁkən]. Schürze is at rank #27,924, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʏʁt͡sə].

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 59704, this pair ranks #814,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schurken vs Schürze

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "Schurken": knu. Private to "Schürze": .

"Schurken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "Schürze" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schurkencshurken · scchurken · schhurken · schruken · schukren · schurekn · schurkenn · schurkken

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schurken" and "Schürze" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʊʁkən] versus [ˈʃʏʁt͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Schurken" vs "Schürze" - which ranks higher?
"Schürze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,924 in our German list, against #31,780 for "Schurken". 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 "Schurken" and "Schürze" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schurken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schürze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #814,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schurken" and "Schürze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schurke vs Schurken". 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 #814,516 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