befremden

[bəˈfʁɛmdn̩]

/[bəˈfʁɛmdn̩]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“befremden” is uncommon German (frequency #77,732 among 5,818 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,732
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - in unangenehmer, fremdartiger Weise berühren oder verwundern

Corpus desk

Index DE-befremden · befremden · German

befremden · rank #77,732 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,732
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH bees

Nearest frequency peer: bees (-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 „befremden“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for befremden
PropertyValue
Headwordbefremden
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[bəˈfʁɛmdn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#77,732
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „befremden“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).befremdenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „bees“ (#77,731), „befremdet“ (#77,733), „bedeutungslose“ (#77,730). Unter 5,818 „B“-Lemmata liegt „befremden“ bei #77,732. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

befremden is uncommon German at frequency #77,732 among 5,818 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [bəˈfʁɛmdn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "in unangenehmer, fremdartiger Weise berühren oder verwundern".

befremden has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is befremden, spelled B-E-F-R-E-M-D-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    in unangenehmer, fremdartiger Weise berühren oder verwundern

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Das unhöfliche Verhalten der Menschen befremdet ihn.

Synonyms

eigenartigmerkwürdigseltsamanmuten

This word in other languages

disconcert(English)extrañar(Español)déconcerter(Français)

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 "befremden"?
"befremden" is spelled B-E-F-R-E-M-D-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [bəˈfʁɛmdn̩].
What does "befremden" mean?
As a verb, "befremden" means: in unangenehmer, fremdartiger Weise berühren oder verwundern
How do you pronounce "befremden"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "befremden" is [bəˈfʁɛmdn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "befremden" come from?
"befremden" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "befremden", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

befremdet#77,733Bauchtanz#77,725beschwöre#77,749Autofokus#77,710

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list