bestechen
German, verb/bəˈʃtɛçən/
bestechen is spelled B-E-S-T-E-C-H-E-N (9 letters) and appears 1.9 times per million words in written German, the 25,497th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bestechen is a German verb meaning “to bribe” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “eine Gabe an eine Amtsperson überlassen, um diese zur Verletzung ihrer Amtspflicht zu bewegen”.
What does bestechen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to bribe
- 2
to win over
- 3
to captivate, to impress
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. eine Gabe an eine Amtsperson überlassen, um diese zur Verletzung ihrer Amtspflicht zu bewegen 2. jemanden für sich einnehmen
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of bestechen
- besticht present singular third-person
- bestach past
- bestochen participle past
- bestäche past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 4 strong
- bestechend participle present
- besteche first-person indicative present
- bestichst indicative present second-person
- bestecht indicative plural present
- bestechest second-person singular subjunctive
- bestechet plural second-person subjunctive
- bestachen first-person indicative plural
- bestächen first-person formal plural
- bestachst indicative preterite second-person
- bestacht indicative plural preterite
- bestächest formal rare second-person
- bestächst formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce bestechen?
- /bəˈʃtɛçən/
- [bəˈʃtɛçn̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to bestechen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bestechen in German?
bestechen appears 1.9 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).