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hilflos

German, adjective/ˈhɪlfloːs/

hilflos is a German adjective meaning “helpless” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “nicht in der Lage, allein zurechtzukommen/sich selbst zu helfen; auf Hilfe angewiesen”.

What does hilflos mean in English?

adjective

  1. 1

    helpless

adverb

  1. 1

    helplessly

Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How German dictionaries define it

adjective: 1. nicht in der Lage, allein zurechtzukommen/sich selbst zu helfen; auf Hilfe angewiesen 2. nicht in der Lage, jemandem zu helfen 3. intellektuell überfordert

The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.

Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of hilflos

  • hilfloser masculine nominative singular
  • am hilflosesten superlative
  • hilflose feminine nominative singular
  • hilfloses neuter nominative singular
  • hilflosen genitive masculine singular
  • hilflosem dative masculine singular
  • der hilflose definite includes-article masculine
  • die hilflose definite feminine includes-article
  • das hilflose definite includes-article neuter
  • die hilflosen definite includes-article nominative
  • des hilflosen definite genitive includes-article
  • der hilflosen definite feminine genitive
  • dem hilflosen dative definite includes-article

Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

How do you pronounce hilflos?

  • /ˈhɪlfloːs/
  • [ˈhɪlfloːs]

Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.

English words that translate to hilflos

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is hilflos in German?

hilflos appears 5.6 times per million words in written German.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).