scheitern

[ˈʃaɪ̯tɐn]

/[ˈʃaɪ̯tɐn]/ verb

The verdict

“scheitern” has 14 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #4,229. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,229
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas nicht erreichen, das man erreichen will

Corpus desk

Index DE-scheitern · scheitern · German

scheitern · rank #4,229 · 14 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,229
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schaue

Nearest frequency peer: schaue (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „scheitern“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „scheitern“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

scheitern vs Schiiten
67% similar
scheitern vs schultern
78% similar
scheitern vs scheitert
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for scheitern
PropertyValue
Headwordscheitern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃaɪ̯tɐn]
Letters9
Frequency rank#4,229
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „scheitern“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).scheiternliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „schaue“ (#4,228), „Spieltag“ (#4,230), „Reform“ (#4,227). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „scheitern“ bei #4,229. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around scheitern (IPA [ˈʃaɪ̯tɐn]), averb. Corpus frequency is #4,229 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "etwas nicht erreichen, das man erreichen will".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for scheitern, with forms such as "csheitern", "sccheitern", and "scehitern". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "Schiiten", "schultern", "scheitert", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is scheitern, spelled S-C-H-E-I-T-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas nicht erreichen, das man erreichen will

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how scheitern appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Mit diesem Projekt sind wir leider ganz und gar gescheitert.
  2. „Entscheidungen fielen grundsätzlich im Senat. Aber zu ihrer Verwirklichung bedurfte es der Magistrate und bei Gesetzen auch der Volksversammlung. Einzelne Politiker oder Gruppen konnten vielleicht vorübergehend den Senat majorisieren, doch sie mussten nach menschlichem Ermessen an einer der beiden anderen Instanzen scheitern, da sich diese ihrer Kontroll…

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • csheitern
  • sccheitern
  • scehitern
  • scheietrn
  • scheitenr
  • scheiternn
  • scheiterrn
  • scheitren
  • scheittern
  • schetiern
  • schheitern
  • schietern
  • shceitern
  • sscheitern

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of scheitern - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

csheitern2sccheitern1scehitern2scheietrn2scheitenr2scheiternn1scheiterrn1scheitren2
Edit distance from "scheitern"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "scheitern"?
"scheitern" is spelled S-C-H-E-I-T-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃaɪ̯tɐn].
What does "scheitern" mean?
As a verb, "scheitern" means: etwas nicht erreichen, das man erreichen will
What words are commonly confused with "scheitern"?
"scheitern" is commonly confused with "Schiiten", "schultern", "scheitert". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "scheitern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "scheitern" is [ˈʃaɪ̯tɐn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "scheitern" come from?
"scheitern" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "scheitern", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list