scherze
[ˈʃɛʁt͡sə]
The verdict
“scherze” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #24,110 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #24,110
- frequency rank, German
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scherzen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | scherze |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈʃɛʁt͡sə] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #24,110 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “scherze” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for scherze is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈʃɛʁt͡sə]. Corpus data places it at rank #24,110 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for scherze, with forms such as "csherze", "sccherze", and "scehrze". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "schrie", "scheue", "schwere", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, 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 scherze, spelled S-C-H-E-R-Z-E.
Definition
- 11. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scherzen
- 21. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scherzen
- 33. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scherzen
- 42. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scherzen
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: csherze,sccherze,scehrze,scherez,scherrze,scherzze,schezre,schherze,schreze,shcerze,sscherze
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of scherze - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "scherze"?
What does "scherze" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "scherze"?
How do you pronounce "scherze"?
What language does "scherze" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “scherze”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-C-H-E-R-Z-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈʃɛʁt͡sə] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “schrie” - see the side-by-side comparison. scherze vs schrie
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.