schlau

[ʃlaʊ̯]

/[ʃlaʊ̯]/ adj

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

The verdict

“schlau” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #5,301. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,301
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - um Wege wissend, seine Ziele (dennoch) zu erreichen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schlau · schlau · German

schlau · rank #5,301 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,301
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH sagten

Nearest frequency peer: sagten (-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 „schlau“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „schlau“ 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).

schlau vs schlug
67% similar
schlau vs schräg
50% similar
schlau vs schmal
67% similar

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

Key facts for schlau
PropertyValue
Headwordschlau
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ʃlaʊ̯]
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,301
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „schlau“

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „sagten“ (#5,300), „Schock“ (#5,302), „route“ (#5,299). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schlau“ bei #5,301. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around schlau (IPA [ʃlaʊ̯]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #5,301 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for schlau, with forms such as "cshlau", "scchlau", and "schalu". 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, "schlug", "schräg", "schmal", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is schlau, spelled S-C-H-L-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    um Wege wissend, seine Ziele (dennoch) zu erreichen
  2. 2
    Klugheit besitzend

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Max und Moritz waren sicherlich schlau, aber nicht gescheit.
  2. Denn nichts lässt Energie so sinnlos verpuffen wie schwelende Bürokonflikte. Da hilft es, dem Ärger Luft zu machen - nur sollte man sich dabei schlau genug anstellen.

Synonyms

abgefeimtausgefuchstausgekochtbauernschlaudurchtriebengerissengewitztpfiffigtrickreichverschlagenblitzgescheitclevergescheitklugintelligentverständig

Antonyms

dummnaivtrotteligunwissend

This word in other languages

sly(English)astuto(Español)rusé(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cshlau
  • scchlau
  • schalu
  • schhlau
  • schllau
  • schlua
  • sclhau
  • shclau
  • sschlau

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

cshlau2scchlau1schalu2schhlau1schllau1schlua2sclhau2shclau2
Edit distance from "schlau"

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 "schlau"?
"schlau" is spelled S-C-H-L-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃlaʊ̯].
What does "schlau" mean?
As an adjective, "schlau" means: um Wege wissend, seine Ziele (dennoch) zu erreichen
What words are commonly confused with "schlau"?
"schlau" is commonly confused with "schlug", "schräg", "schmal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "schlau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schlau" is [ʃlaʊ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schlau" come from?
"schlau" 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 "schlau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sagten#5,300Schock#5,302school#5,303Proben#5,297

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

sexuelle9 variantsSoldat9 variantsMichel9 variantsVolker9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list