Which to use
“Schwund” and “Schwur” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,720
- “Schwund” frequency rank
- #29,776
- “Schwur” frequency rank
- 77496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schwund | Schwur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meist allmähliches Schwinden | verbindliche Festlegung auf etwas |
Where the eye mixes Schwund and Schwur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Schwund runs 7 letters (CCCCVCC) against Schwur's 6 (CCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Schwund with Schwur
A purely visual mix-up. Schwund ([ʃvʊnt]) and Schwur ([ʃvuːɐ̯]) 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 77496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schwund is recorded at frequency rank #47,720, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃvʊnt]. Schwur is at rank #29,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃvuːɐ̯].
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 77496, this pair ranks #259,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Schwund vs Schwur
Shared letters: chsuw. Private to "Schwund": dn. Private to "Schwur": r.
"Schwund" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC · "Schwur" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Schwund" and "Schwur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Schwund" or "Schwur" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schwund" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Schwur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #259,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schwund" and "Schwur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwand vs Schwund". 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 #259,400 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.