scherzen

[ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩]

/[ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“scherzen” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #33,267. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,267
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Späße machen, einen Scherz machen, es nicht ernst meinen

Corpus desk

Index DE-scherzen · scherzen · German

scherzen · rank #33,267 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,267
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Schachteln

Nearest frequency peer: Schachteln (-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 „scherzen“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „scherzen“ 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).

scherzen vs scheuen
75% similar
scherzen vs schüren
75% similar
scherzen vs Schürze
63% similar

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

Key facts for scherzen
PropertyValue
Headwordscherzen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩]
Letters8
Frequency rank#33,267
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „scherzen“

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Schachteln“ (#33,266), „schiefe“ (#33,268), „Satiriker“ (#33,264). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „scherzen“ bei #33,267. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around scherzen (IPA [ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #33,267 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Späße machen, einen Scherz machen, es nicht ernst meinen".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for scherzen, with forms such as "csherzen", "sccherzen", and "scehrzen". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "scheuen", "schüren", "Schürze", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is scherzen, spelled S-C-H-E-R-Z-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Späße machen, einen Scherz machen, es nicht ernst meinen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sie scherzten über sein neues Hemd; sie scherzten viel miteinander.
  2. Du scherzt wohl?

Synonyms

Spaß machenWitze machenspaßen

This word in other languages

joke(English)bromear(Español)plaisanter(Français)gracejar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • csherzen
  • sccherzen
  • scehrzen
  • scherezn
  • scherrzen
  • scherzenn
  • scherzne
  • scherzzen
  • schezren
  • schherzen
  • schrezen
  • shcerzen
  • sscherzen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of scherzen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

csherzen2sccherzen1scehrzen2scherezn2scherrzen1scherzenn1scherzne2scherzzen1
Edit distance from "scherzen"

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 "scherzen"?
"scherzen" is spelled S-C-H-E-R-Z-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩].
What does "scherzen" mean?
As a verb, "scherzen" means: Späße machen, einen Scherz machen, es nicht ernst meinen
What words are commonly confused with "scherzen"?
"scherzen" is commonly confused with "scheuen", "schüren", "Schürze". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "scherzen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "scherzen" is [ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "scherzen" come from?
"scherzen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "scherzen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

schlauen#33,271Schmidts#33,275Roadster#33,256Rechnern#33,250

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

Satiriker13 variantsschnellem13 variantsRegenzeit13 variantsRankings13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list