Damoklesschwert
German, noun/ˈdaːmoklɛsˌʃveːɐ̯t/
Damoklesschwert is spelled D-A-M-O-K-L-E-S-S-C-H-W-E-R-T (15 letters) and appears about once in every 3 million words in written German, the 85,035th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Damoklesschwert is a German neuter noun meaning “sword of Damocles (thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “eine drohende unabwendbare Gefahr, gegen die der Betreffende zum jeweiligen Zeitpunkt machtlos ist”.
What does Damoklesschwert mean in English?
noun
- 1
neutersword of Damocles (thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. eine drohende unabwendbare Gefahr, gegen die der Betreffende zum jeweiligen Zeitpunkt machtlos ist
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 Damoklesschwert
- Damoklesschwertes genitive
- Damoklesschwerts genitive
- Damoklesschwerter plural
- Damoklesschwerte dative singular
- Damoklesschwertern dative definite plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Damoklesschwert?
- /ˈdaːmoklɛsˌʃveːɐ̯t/
- [ˈdaːmoklɛsˌʃveːɐ̯t]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is Damoklesschwert in German?
Damoklesschwert appears about once in every 3 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).