schweifen

[ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]

/[ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“schweifen” has 14 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #32,259. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#32,259
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - sich ohne festes Ziel in einem Bereich bewegen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schweifen · schweifen · German

schweifen · rank #32,259 · 14 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #32,259
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH seal

Nearest frequency peer: seal (+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 „schweifen“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „schweifen“ 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).

schweifen vs Schwein
67% similar
schweifen vs schweren
78% similar
schweifen vs Schweine
67% similar

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

Key facts for schweifen
PropertyValue
Headwordschweifen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#32,259
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „schweifen“

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „seal“ (#32,260), „segne“ (#32,261), „schuften“ (#32,256). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schweifen“ bei #32,259. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around schweifen (IPA [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #32,259 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for schweifen, with forms such as "cshweifen", "scchweifen", and "schewifen". 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, "Schwein", "schweren", "Schweine", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is schweifen, spelled S-C-H-W-E-I-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    sich ohne festes Ziel in einem Bereich bewegen
  2. 2
    etwas biegen, in eine gebogene Form bringen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Wir schweifen durch einen Ort.
  2. „Anders als diese Völker, die in der Regel raubend und verwüstend durchs Land geschweift waren, wollten sich die Langobarden hier dauerhaft niederlassen.“

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cshweifen
  • scchweifen
  • schewifen
  • schhweifen
  • schwefien
  • schweiefn
  • schweifenn
  • schweiffen
  • schweifne
  • schwiefen
  • schwweifen
  • scwheifen
  • shcweifen
  • sschweifen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of schweifen - 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.

cshweifen2scchweifen1schewifen2schhweifen1schwefien2schweiefn2schweifenn1schweiffen1
Edit distance from "schweifen"

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 "schweifen"?
"schweifen" is spelled S-C-H-W-E-I-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩].
What does "schweifen" mean?
As a verb, "schweifen" means: sich ohne festes Ziel in einem Bereich bewegen
What words are commonly confused with "schweifen"?
"schweifen" is commonly confused with "Schwein", "schweren", "Schweine". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "schweifen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schweifen" is [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schweifen" come from?
"schweifen" 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 "schweifen", 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