Which to use
“Schwindel” is a noun and “schwinden” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,405
- “Schwindel” frequency rank
- #31,783
- “schwinden” frequency rank
- 46188
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schwindel | schwinden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Beeinträchtigung des Gleichgewichtssinns; Gefühl zu taumeln, wanken | in bedenklichem Maße nachlassen |
Where the eye mixes Schwindel and schwinden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Schwindel and schwinden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Schwindel with schwinden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schwindel is [ˈʃvɪndl̩] while schwinden is [ˈʃvɪndn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “Schwindel” becomes n in “schwinden”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schwindel is recorded at frequency rank #14,405, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃvɪndl̩]. schwinden is at rank #31,783, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvɪndn̩].
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 46188, this pair ranks #1,327,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Schwindel vs schwinden
Shared letters: cdehinsw. Private to "Schwindel": l. Private to "schwinden": -.
"Schwindel" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC · "schwinden" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schwindel" for "schwinden" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Schwindel" or "schwinden"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schwindel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schwinden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,327,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schwindel" and "schwinden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwinden vs schwirren". 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 #1,327,541 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.