Which to use
“stimm” is a verb and “stumm” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,305
- “stimm” frequency rank
- #12,598
- “stumm” frequency rank
- 42903
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stimm | stumm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stimmen | keine Laute von sich geben könnend |
Where the eye mixes stimm and stumm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stimm vs stumm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stimm is [ʃtɪm] while stumm is [ʃtʊm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “stimm” becomes u in “stumm”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stimm is recorded at frequency rank #30,305, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪm]. stumm is at rank #12,598, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtʊm].
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 42903, this pair ranks #1,434,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stimm vs stumm
Shared letters: mst. Private to "stimm": i. Private to "stumm": u.
"stimm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stumm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stimm" and "stumm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stimm" or "stumm"?
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 "stimm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stumm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,434,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stimm" and "stumm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stemmt vs stimm". 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 #1,434,853 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.