Bärendienst

[ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst]

/[ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst]/ noun

The verdict

“Bärendienst” is uncommon German (frequency #73,345 among 5,818 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,345
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - gut gemeinte Unterstützung für jemanden, die für den Betroffenen aber ungewollt negative Folgen hat

Corpus desk

Index DE-barendienst · Bärendienst · German

Bärendienst · rank #73,345 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,345
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH bust

Nearest frequency peer: bust (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Bärendienst“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Bärendienst“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Bärendienst
PropertyValue
HeadwordBärendienst
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst]
Letters11
Frequency rank#73,345
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Bärendienst“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Bärendienstfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „bust“ (#73,344), „Bücherschrank“ (#73,347), „Burrito“ (#73,342). Unter 5,818 „B“-Lemmata liegt „Bärendienst“ bei #73,345. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Bärendienst is uncommon German at frequency #73,345 among 5,818 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "gut gemeinte Unterstützung für jemanden, die für den Betroffenen aber ungewollt negative Folgen hat".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Bärendienst, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

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 Bärendienst, spelled B-Ä-R-E-N-D-I-E-N-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    gut gemeinte Unterstützung für jemanden, die für den Betroffenen aber ungewollt negative Folgen hat

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Wenn man jemandem alle Mühen abnimmt, statt ihn selbst aktiv werden zu lassen, erweist man ihm einen Bärendienst.

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 "Bärendienst"?
"Bärendienst" is spelled B-Ä-R-E-N-D-I-E-N-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst].
What does "Bärendienst" mean?
As a noun, "Bärendienst" means: gut gemeinte Unterstützung für jemanden, die für den Betroffenen aber ungewollt negative Folgen hat
How do you pronounce "Bärendienst"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Bärendienst" is [ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Bärendienst" come from?
"Bärendienst" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "Bärendienst", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list