Bärendienst
[ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst]
The verdict
“Bärendienst” is uncommon German (frequency #73,345 among 72,680 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #73,345
- frequency rank, German
- 72,680
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - gut gemeinte Unterstützung für jemanden, die für den Betroffenen aber ungewollt negative Folgen hat
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Bärendienst |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst] |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #73,345 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Bärendienst” sits in German frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Bärendienst is uncommon German at frequency #73,345 among 72,680 “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
- 1gut gemeinte Unterstützung für jemanden, die für den Betroffenen aber ungewollt negative Folgen hat
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"?
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Using “Bärendienst”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is B-Ä-R-E-N-D-I-E-N-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈbɛːʁənˌdiːnst] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Other uncommon German words near this rank
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.