Which to use
“shield” and “Spiel” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,063
- “shield” frequency rank
- #303
- “Spiel” frequency rank
- 18366
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shield | Spiel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Schild, Schirm | Tätigkeit ohne Zweck und aus Freude |
Where the eye mixes shield and Spiel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shield vs Spiel
A purely visual mix-up. shield ([ʃiːld]) and Spiel ([ʃpiːl]) 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 18366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shield is recorded at frequency rank #18,063, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃiːld]. Spiel is at rank #303, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpiːl].
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 18366, this pair ranks #1,918,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shield vs Spiel
Shared letters: eils. Private to "shield": dh. Private to "Spiel": p.
"shield" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "Spiel" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shield" for "Spiel" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shield" vs "Spiel" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "shield" and "Spiel" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shield" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Spiel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,918,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shield" and "Spiel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiele vs shield". 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 #1,918,942 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.