abschrecken
German, verb
abschrecken is spelled A-B-S-C-H-R-E-C-K-E-N (11 letters) and appears 2.5 times per million words in written German, the 20,546th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abschrecken is a German verb meaning “to discourage (to take away or reduce the courage of), to daunt, to repel, to scare” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Abschrecken is a different word: “quenching (of steel)”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “Angst oder Zweifel erzeugen und jemanden damit fernhalten”.
What does abschrecken mean in English?
verb
- 1
to discourage (to take away or reduce the courage of), to daunt, to repel, to scare
- 2
to quench (cool down rapidly by contact with water or other liquid)
noun
- 1
neuterquenching (of steel)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Angst oder Zweifel erzeugen und jemanden damit fernhalten 2. etwas Heißes kurz mit kaltem Wasser abspülen
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 abschrecken
- Abschreckens genitive
- schreckt ab present singular third-person
- schreckte ab past
- abgeschreckt participle past
- sein auxiliary
- abschreckend participle present
- abzuschrecken infinitive infinitive-zu
- schrecke ab first-person indicative present
- schrecken ab first-person indicative plural
- schreckst ab indicative present second-person
- schreckest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- schrecket ab plural second-person subjunctive
- schreckten ab first-person indicative plural
- schrecktest ab indicative preterite second-person
- schrecktet ab indicative plural preterite
- schreck ab! imperative singular
- schreckt ab! imperative plural
- haben auxiliary perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to abschrecken
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is abschrecken in German?
abschrecken appears 2.5 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).