SkiervsskinsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,283
“Skier” frequency rank
#33,820
“skins” frequency rank
80103
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Skier skins
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ski Plural des Substantivs skin

Where the eye mixes Skier and skins

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Skier (CCVVC) and skins (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Skier
5 ch
skins

Visual trap between Skier and skins

A purely visual mix-up. Skier ([ˈʃiːɐ]) and skins ([skɪnz]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Skier is recorded at frequency rank #46,283, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃiːɐ]. skins is at rank #33,820, tagged as anoun, pronounced [skɪnz].

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 80103, this pair ranks #202,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Skier vs skins

Shared letters: iks. Private to "Skier": er. Private to "skins": n.

"Skier" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "skins" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Skier ← ksier · siker · skeir · skierr · skire · skkier · sskier
  • skins ← ksins · sikns · skinns · skinss · skisn · skkins · sknis · sskins

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Skier" for "skins" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃiːɐ] versus [skɪnz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Skier" or "skins"?
"skins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,820 in our German list, against #46,283 for "Skier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Skier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "skins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #202,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Skier" and "skins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Skier vs sniper". 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 #202,420 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