Which to use
“shadow” and “Show” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,387
- “shadow” frequency rank
- #1,333
- “Show” frequency rank
- 19720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shadow | Show |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Schatten | Vorführung eines (großen) Unterhaltungsprogramms vor Publikum (beispielsweise im Theater oder Varieté; oft in Fernsehen oder Radio übertragen), teilweise mit Informationscharakter |
Where the eye mixes shadow and Show
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses shadow with Show
A purely visual mix-up. shadow ([ʃædəʊ]) and Show ([ʃɔʊ̯]) 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 19720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shadow is recorded at frequency rank #18,387, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃædəʊ]. Show is at rank #1,333, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃɔʊ̯].
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 19720, this pair ranks #1,905,343 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shadow vs Show
Shared letters: hosw. Private to "shadow": ad. Private to "Show": -.
"shadow" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "Show" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shadow" for "Show" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "shadow" or "Show" 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 "shadow" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Show" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,905,343 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shadow" and "Show" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shades vs shadow". 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 #1,905,343 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.