Attentat

[ˈatn̩ˌtaːt]

/[ˈatn̩ˌtaːt]/ noun

The verdict

“Attentat” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #10,807 in German word frequency and used as a noun.

#10,807
frequency rank, German
8
letters
10
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mord oder versuchter Mord an einem öffentlich bekannten, meist politisch einflussreichen Menschen beziehungsweise an einer bestimmten Menschengruppe

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

Attentat vs Attentate
89% similar
Attentat vs Attentäter
70% similar

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

Key facts for Attentat
PropertyValue
HeadwordAttentat
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈatn̩ˌtaːt]
Letters8
Frequency rank#10,807
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Attentat” 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). Attentat 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 Attentat is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈatn̩ˌtaːt]. Corpus data places it at rank #10,807 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Mord oder versuchter Mord an einem öffentlich bekannten, meist politisch einflussreichen Menschen beziehungsweise an einer bestimmten Menschengruppe".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Attentat, with forms such as "atentat", "atetntat", and "attenatt". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Attentate", "Attentäter", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is Attentat, spelled A-T-T-E-N-T-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mord oder versuchter Mord an einem öffentlich bekannten, meist politisch einflussreichen Menschen beziehungsweise an einer bestimmten Menschengruppe

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: atentat,atetntat,attenatt,attenntat,attentatt,attentta,attenttat,attetnat,attnetat,tatentat

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

atentat1atetntat2attenatt2attenntat1attentatt1attentta2attenttat1attetnat2
Edit distance from "Attentat"

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 "Attentat"?
"Attentat" is spelled A-T-T-E-N-T-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈatn̩ˌtaːt].
What does "Attentat" mean?
As a noun, "Attentat" means: Mord oder versuchter Mord an einem öffentlich bekannten, meist politisch einflussreichen Menschen beziehungsweise an einer bestimmten Menschengruppe
What words are commonly confused with "Attentat"?
"Attentat" is commonly confused with "Attentate", "Attentäter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Attentat"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Attentat" is [ˈatn̩ˌtaːt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Attentat" come from?
"Attentat" 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 “Attentat”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is A-T-T-E-N-T-A-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈatn̩ˌtaːt] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Attentate” - see the side-by-side comparison. Attentat vs Attentate
  • 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