buchstäblich
[ˈbuːxˌʃtɛːplɪç]
The verdict
“buchstäblich” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #11,200 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #11,200
- frequency rank, German
- 12
- letters
- 20
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - wortwörtlich, im wahrsten Sinne; ohne übertragene Lesweise
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | buchstäblich |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈbuːxˌʃtɛːplɪç] |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #11,200 |
| Misspellings tracked | 20 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “buchstäblich” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for buchstäblich is 12 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈbuːxˌʃtɛːplɪç]. Corpus data places it at rank #11,200 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "wortwörtlich, im wahrsten Sinne; ohne übertragene Lesweise".
Our generated misspelling index lists 20 likely wrong-spelling variants for buchstäblich, with forms such as "bbuchstäblich", "bcuhstäblich", and "bucchstäblich". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is buchstäblich, spelled B-U-C-H-S-T-Ä-B-L-I-C-H.
Definition
- 1wortwörtlich, im wahrsten Sinne; ohne übertragene Lesweise
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbuchstäblich,bcuhstäblich,bucchstäblich,buchhstäblich,buchsstäblich,buchstbälich,buchsttäblich,buchstäbblich,buchstäbilch,buchstäblcih,buchstäblicch,buchstäblichh,buchstäblihc,buchstäbllich,buchstälbich,buchsätblich,buchtsäblich,bucshtäblich,buhcstäblich,ubchstäblich
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of buchstäblich - 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 "buchstäblich"?
What does "buchstäblich" mean?
What are common misspellings of "buchstäblich"?
How do you pronounce "buchstäblich"?
What language does "buchstäblich" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “buchstäblich”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is B-U-C-H-S-T-Ä-B-L-I-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈbuːxˌʃtɛːplɪç] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.