bröckeln

[ˈbʁœkl̩n]

/[ˈbʁœkl̩n]/ verb

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

The verdict

“bröckeln” is uncommon German (frequency #73,334 among 5,818 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,334
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - zu kleinen Brocken, in kleine Stücke zerfallen

Corpus desk

Index DE-brockeln · bröckeln · German

bröckeln · rank #73,334 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,334
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH brush

Nearest frequency peer: brush (-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 „bröckeln“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bröckeln
PropertyValue
Headwordbröckeln
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈbʁœkl̩n]
Letters8
Frequency rank#73,334
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „bröckeln“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „brush“ (#73,333), „BSH“ (#73,335), „Brunhilde“ (#73,332). Unter 5,818 „B“-Lemmata liegt „bröckeln“ bei #73,334. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bröckeln is uncommon German at frequency #73,334 among 5,818 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈbʁœkl̩n]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

bröckeln has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is bröckeln, spelled B-R-Ö-C-K-E-L-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    zu kleinen Brocken, in kleine Stücke zerfallen
  2. 2
    schwinden (von Aktienkursen, Gefühlen, der Liebe etc.)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Von ähnlicher Seelenverderbnis befallen, bröckeln die Kartoffeln während des Schälens in Stücken von den Gabeln und platzen, wie von inneren Erdbeben aufgerührt, auseinander.
  2. »Der Schacht besteht jedenfalls auch aus Schlammziegeln, welche leicht bröckeln. Da könnte man den Halt verlieren und in die Tiefe stürzen.«

Synonyms

abblätternauflösenauseinanderbrechenauseinanderfallenbröselnkrümelnentschwindenschrumpfenschwindenvergehenverschwinden

Antonyms

koagulierenklebenverschmelzenanhäufenauftürmenvermehrensteigenwachsen

This word in other languages

crumble(English)desmigajarse(Español)s'effriter(Français)desaparecer(Português)

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 "bröckeln"?
"bröckeln" is spelled B-R-Ö-C-K-E-L-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈbʁœkl̩n].
What does "bröckeln" mean?
As a verb, "bröckeln" means: zu kleinen Brocken, in kleine Stücke zerfallen
How do you pronounce "bröckeln"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bröckeln" is [ˈbʁœkl̩n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bröckeln" come from?
"bröckeln" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "bröckeln", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

betrinkt#73,314Beihefte#73,299befleckt#73,294Bastards#73,283

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list