schwer

[ʃveːɐ̯]

/[ʃveːɐ̯]/ adj

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

The verdict

“schwer” has 10 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #446. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#446
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein hohes Gewicht habend

Corpus desk

Index DE-schwer · schwer · German

schwer · rank #446 · 10 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #446
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Person

Nearest frequency peer: Person (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “schwer”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “schwer” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

schwer vs Seher
50% similar
schwer vs sicher
67% similar
schwer vs schwul
67% similar

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

Key facts for schwer
PropertyValue
Headwordschwer
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ʃveːɐ̯]
Letters6
Frequency rank#446
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “schwer” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).schwerliegt hier:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Person“ (#445), „wichtig“ (#447), „gilt“ (#444). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around schwer (IPA [ʃveːɐ̯]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #446 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for schwer, with forms such as "cshwer", "scchwer", and "schewr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Seher", "sicher", "schwul", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is schwer, spelled S-C-H-W-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    ein hohes Gewicht habend
  2. 2
    Eigenschaft von etwas, das nur mit großem Wissen, großen Fähigkeiten ausgeführt werden kann
  3. 3
    von großen Mühen und Entbehrungen gekennzeichnet
  4. 4
    stark ausgeprägt
  5. 5
    ein körperreicher, wenig differenzierter Wein, der jegliche Feinheit vermissen lässt

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Der Amboss war extrem schwer.
  2. „Das etwa 1,7 Kilogramm schwere Fluggerät sei nur wenige Meter neben einer Familie mit zwei Kindern am Boden eingeschlagen, berichtete die Polizei am Dienstag.“

Synonyms

massereichdiffizilkompliziertschwerlichschwierighartmühseligschwerlichschwerwiegendschlimm

Antonyms

leichteinfachleichttrivialbequemgemütlich

This word in other languages

heavy(English)pesado(Español)lourd(Français)pesado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cshwer
  • scchwer
  • schewr
  • schhwer
  • schwerr
  • schwre
  • schwwer
  • scwher
  • shcwer
  • sschwer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

cshwer2scchwer1schewr2schhwer1schwerr1schwre2schwwer1scwher2
Edit distance from "schwer"

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 "schwer"?
"schwer" is spelled S-C-H-W-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃveːɐ̯].
What does "schwer" mean?
As an adjective, "schwer" means: ein hohes Gewicht habend
What words are commonly confused with "schwer"?
"schwer" is commonly confused with "Seher", "sicher", "schwul". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "schwer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schwer" is [ʃveːɐ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schwer" come from?
"schwer" 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 "schwer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Person#445zeigen#448letzte#452damals#439

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Strasse10 variantszweiten10 variantsmeisten10 variantsArtikel10 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "schwer". Here's where to go from here.

  • "schwer" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Seher". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #446 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list