BDSM
[beːdeːʔɛsˈʔɛm]
The verdict
“BDSM” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #18,822 in German word frequency and used as an abbreviation.
- #18,822
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sammelbezeichnung für sexuelle Praktiken, die Dominanz, Unterwerfung, Fesseln und das Zufügen von Schmerzen involvieren
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | BDSM |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Abbreviation |
| IPA | [beːdeːʔɛsˈʔɛm] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #18,822 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “BDSM” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for BDSM is 4 letters long, classified as an abbreviation, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [beːdeːʔɛsˈʔɛm]. Corpus data places it at rank #18,822 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Sammelbezeichnung für sexuelle Praktiken, die Dominanz, Unterwerfung, Fesseln und das Zufügen von Schmerzen involvieren".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for BDSM, with forms such as "bbdsm", "bddsm", and "bdms". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "BS", "Bus", "BSC", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is BDSM, spelled B-D-S-M.
Definition
- 1Sammelbezeichnung für sexuelle Praktiken, die Dominanz, Unterwerfung, Fesseln und das Zufügen von Schmerzen involvieren
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbdsm,bddsm,bdms,bdsmm,bdssm,bsdm,dbsm
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of BDSM - 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.
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 "BDSM"?
What does "BDSM" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "BDSM"?
How do you pronounce "BDSM"?
What language does "BDSM" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “BDSM”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is B-D-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [beːdeːʔɛsˈʔɛm] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “BS” - see the side-by-side comparison. BDSM vs BS
- 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.