schweresvssicheresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,563
“schweres” frequency rank
#10,747
“sicheres” frequency rank
21310
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schweres sicheres
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schwer Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sicher

Where the eye mixes schweres and sicheres

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schweres (CCCCVCVC) and sicheres (CVCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
schweres
8 ch
sicheres

Visual trap between schweres and sicheres

A purely visual mix-up. schweres ([ˈʃveːʁəs]) and sicheres ([ˈzɪçəʁəs]) 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 21310, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schweres is recorded at frequency rank #10,563, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːʁəs]. sicheres is at rank #10,747, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɪçəʁəs].

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 21310, this pair ranks #1,887,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schweres vs sicheres

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "schweres": w. Private to "sicheres": i.

"schweres" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC  ·  "sicheres" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schweres ← cshweres · scchweres · schewres · schhweres · schweers · schweress · schwerres · schwerse
  • sicheres ← ischeres · sciheres · siccheres · sicehres · sicheers · sicheress · sicherres · sicherse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schweres" and "sicheres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃveːʁəs] versus [ˈzɪçəʁəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schweres" or "sicheres" show up more?
"schweres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,563 in our German list, against #10,747 for "sicheres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schweres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sicheres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,887,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schweres" and "sicheres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schweres vs schwules". 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 #1,887,772 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