SesamvsslamWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,990
“Sesam” frequency rank
#12,387
“slam” frequency rank
59377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sesam slam
Definition Pflanze der Art Sesamum indicum, aus der Familie der Sesamgewächse Poetry-Slam, Poetryslam, Slam

Where the eye mixes Sesam and slam

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sesam
4 ch
slam

Look-alike desk: Sesam vs slam

A purely visual mix-up. Sesam ([ˈzeːzam]) and slam ([slam]) 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 59377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sesam is recorded at frequency rank #46,990, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzeːzam]. slam is at rank #12,387, tagged as anoun, pronounced [slam].

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 59377, this pair ranks #826,797 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sesam vs slam

Shared letters: ams. Private to "Sesam": e. Private to "slam": l.

"Sesam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "slam" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sesamessam · seasm · sesamm · sesma · sessam · sseam · ssesam
  • slamlsam · salm · slamm · sllam · slma · sslam

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Sesam" and "slam" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːzam] versus [slam]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Sesam" or "slam"?
"slam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,387 in our German list, against #46,990 for "Sesam". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sesam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "slam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #826,797 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sesam" and "slam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sega vs Sesam". 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 #826,797 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