bestaunen

[bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən]

/[bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“bestaunen” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #23,049. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,049
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas mit Anerkennung/Verwunderung betrachten, anschauen

Corpus desk

Index DE-bestaunen · bestaunen · German

bestaunen · rank #23,049 · 13 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,049
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH Beschädigungen

Nearest frequency peer: Beschädigungen (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „bestaunen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „bestaunen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

bestaunen vs betäuben
67% similar
bestaunen vs besaufen
78% similar
bestaunen vs bestanden
78% similar

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

Key facts for bestaunen
PropertyValue
Headwordbestaunen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən]
Letters9
Frequency rank#23,049
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „bestaunen“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.bestaunenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Beschädigungen“ (#23,048), „besteigen“ (#23,050), „beschlossene“ (#23,047). Unter 5,818 „B“-Lemmata liegt „bestaunen“ bei #23,049. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around bestaunen (IPA [bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #23,049 among 5,818 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "etwas mit Anerkennung/Verwunderung betrachten, anschauen".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for bestaunen, with forms such as "bbestaunen", "besatunen", and "besstaunen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "betäuben", "besaufen", "bestanden", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, 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 bestaunen, spelled B-E-S-T-A-U-N-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas mit Anerkennung/Verwunderung betrachten, anschauen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Jakob und ich bestaunen die erhabene Erscheinung dieser Troika wie kleine Jungs den Auftritt eines Weihnachtsmanns samt Rentieren.“
  2. „Zum gottgefälligen Büßerleben zogen sich Eremiten, Klausner und Inklusen in die Waldeinsamkeit zurück und lebten dort in Höhlen oder Hütten, vom Volk mit schaudernder Ehrfurcht bestaunt.“

This word in other languages

wonder(English)admirar(Español)s'émerveiller(Français)admirar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbestaunen
  • besatunen
  • besstaunen
  • bestanuen
  • bestauenn
  • bestaunenn
  • bestaunne
  • bestaunnen
  • besttaunen
  • bestuanen
  • betsaunen
  • bsetaunen
  • ebstaunen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bestaunen - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bbestaunen1besatunen2besstaunen1bestanuen2bestauenn2bestaunenn1bestaunne2bestaunnen1
Edit distance from "bestaunen"

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 "bestaunen"?
"bestaunen" is spelled B-E-S-T-A-U-N-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən].
What does "bestaunen" mean?
As a verb, "bestaunen" means: etwas mit Anerkennung/Verwunderung betrachten, anschauen
What words are commonly confused with "bestaunen"?
"bestaunen" is commonly confused with "betäuben", "besaufen", "bestanden". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bestaunen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bestaunen" is [bəˈʃtaʊ̯nən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bestaunen" come from?
"bestaunen" 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 "bestaunen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

besteigen#23,050Bethlehem#23,051bewusster#23,055beendeten#23,041

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

bezahlst13 variantsBlütezeit13 variantsaustreten13 variantsaufgefüllt13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list