scherzo

[ˈskertso]

/[ˈskertso]/ noun

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

The verdict

“scherzo” is uncommon German (frequency #75,026 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#75,026
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Scherz m, Spaß m, Streich m

Corpus desk

Index DE-scherzo · scherzo · German

scherzo · rank #75,026 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #75,026
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Schaudern

Nearest frequency peer: Schaudern (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „scherzo“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „scherzo“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for scherzo
PropertyValue
Headwordscherzo
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈskertso]
Letters7
Frequency rank#75,026
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „scherzo“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.scherzofällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Schaudern“ (#75,025), „Schimmelpilze“ (#75,027), „Schaffenskraft“ (#75,024). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „scherzo“ bei #75,026. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

scherzo is uncommon German at frequency #75,026 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈskertso]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

scherzo has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No explicit etymology string is stored 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 scherzo, spelled S-C-H-E-R-Z-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Scherz m, Spaß m, Streich m
  2. 2
    (Musik) Scherzo n
  3. 3
    (im übertragenen Sinne) Kinderspiel

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 "scherzo"?
"scherzo" is spelled S-C-H-E-R-Z-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈskertso].
What does "scherzo" mean?
As a noun, "scherzo" means: Scherz m, Spaß m, Streich m
How do you pronounce "scherzo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "scherzo" is [ˈskertso]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "scherzo" come from?
"scherzo" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "scherzo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Schrems#75,032Rondell#75,011Rollout#75,009scripts#75,043

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list