schwerevsschwersteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,988
“schwere” frequency rank
#15,994
“schwerste” frequency rank
17982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schwere schwerste
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schwer Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs schwer

Where the eye mixes schwere and schwerste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
schwere
9 ch
schwerste

Look-alike desk: schwere vs schwerste

A purely visual mix-up. schwere ([ˈʃveːʁə]) and schwerste ([ˈʃveːɐ̯stə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schwere is recorded at frequency rank #1,988, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːʁə]. schwerste is at rank #15,994, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːɐ̯stə].

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 17982, this pair ranks #1,922,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schwere vs schwerste

Shared letters: cehrsw. Private to "schwere": -. Private to "schwerste": t.

"schwere" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCV  ·  "schwerste" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schwerecshwere · scchwere · schewre · schhwere · schweer · schwerre · schwree · schwwere
  • schwerstecshwerste · scchwerste · schewrste · schhwerste · schwerrste · schwerset · schwersste · schwerstte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schwere" for "schwerste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃveːʁə] versus [ˈʃveːɐ̯stə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schwere" or "schwerste"?
"schwere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,988 in our German list, against #15,994 for "schwerste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schwere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schwerste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,922,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schwere" and "schwerste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schmiere vs schwere". 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 #1,922,477 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