SMS

[ɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs]

/[ɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs]/ noun

The verdict

“SMS” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #4,558 in German word frequency and used as a noun.

#4,558
frequency rank, German
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - eine über das Mobilfunknetz durch den gleichnamigen Dienst versandte Kurznachricht

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

SMS vs so
0% similar
SMS vs SV
33% similar
SMS vs SS
67% similar

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

Key facts for SMS
PropertyValue
HeadwordSMS
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs]
Letters3
Frequency rank#4,558
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “SMS” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). SMS lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for SMS is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs]. Corpus data places it at rank #4,558 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "eine über das Mobilfunknetz durch den gleichnamigen Dienst versandte Kurznachricht".

No generated misspelling entries exist for SMS in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "SV", "SS", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is SMS, spelled S-M-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine über das Mobilfunknetz durch den gleichnamigen Dienst versandte Kurznachricht

Synonyms

KurzmitteilungKurznachrichtSMS-NachrichtTextnachricht

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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 "SMS"?
"SMS" is spelled S-M-S. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs].
What does "SMS" mean?
As a noun, "SMS" means: eine über das Mobilfunknetz durch den gleichnamigen Dienst versandte Kurznachricht
What words are commonly confused with "SMS"?
"SMS" is commonly confused with "so", "SV", "SS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "SMS"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "SMS" is [ɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "SMS" come from?
"SMS" 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.

Using “SMS”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is S-M-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “so” - see the side-by-side comparison. SMS vs so
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list