Which to use
“schweige” and “schwelgen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,619
- “schweige” frequency rank
- #34,355
- “schwelgen” frequency rank
- 73974
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schweige | schwelgen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schweigen | genießerisch, üppig speisen, trinken; luxuriös leben |
Where the eye mixes schweige and schwelgen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schweige runs 8 letters (CCCCVVCV) against schwelgen's 9 (CCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between schweige and schwelgen
A purely visual mix-up. schweige ([ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡə]) and schwelgen ([ˈʃvɛlɡn̩]) 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 73974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schweige is recorded at frequency rank #39,619, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡə]. schwelgen is at rank #34,355, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvɛlɡn̩].
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 73974, this pair ranks #345,880 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of schweige vs schwelgen
Shared letters: ceghsw. Private to "schweige": i. Private to "schwelgen": ln.
"schweige" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCV · "schwelgen" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schweige" and "schwelgen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "schweige" or "schwelgen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "schweige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schwelgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #345,880 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schweige" and "schwelgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schweige vs schwinge". 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 #345,880 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.