das schwarze Schaf sein

/[das ˈʃvaʁt͡sə ʃaːf zaɪ̯n]/ phrase

The verdict

“das schwarze Schaf sein” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as a phrase — the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
23
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: jemand, der sich von den anderen Mitgliedern einer Gemeinschaft (besonders einer Familie) negativ unterscheidet

Key facts for das schwarze Schaf sein
PropertyValue
Headworddas schwarze Schaf sein
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[das ˈʃvaʁt͡sə ʃaːf zaɪ̯n]
Letters23
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “das schwarze Schaf sein” sits in German frequency

das schwarze Schaf sein falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words — the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for das schwarze Schaf sein is 23 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [das ˈʃvaʁt͡sə ʃaːf zaɪ̯n]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "jemand, der sich von den anderen Mitgliedern einer Gemeinschaft (besonders einer Familie) negativ unterscheidet".

No misspelling variants are generated for das schwarze Schaf sein in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is das schwarze Schaf sein, spelled D-A-S- -S-C-H-W-A-R-Z-E- -S-C-H-A-F- -S-E-I-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemand, der sich von den anderen Mitgliedern einer Gemeinschaft (besonders einer Familie) negativ unterscheidet

Synonyms

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "das schwarze Schaf sein"?
"das schwarze Schaf sein" is spelled D-A-S- -S-C-H-W-A-R-Z-E- -S-C-H-A-F- -S-E-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is [das ˈʃvaʁt͡sə ʃaːf zaɪ̯n].
What does "das schwarze Schaf sein" mean?
As a phrase, "das schwarze Schaf sein" means: jemand, der sich von den anderen Mitgliedern einer Gemeinschaft (besonders einer Familie) negativ unterscheidet
How do you pronounce "das schwarze Schaf sein"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "das schwarze Schaf sein" is [das ˈʃvaʁt͡sə ʃaːf zaɪ̯n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "das schwarze Schaf sein" come from?
"das schwarze Schaf sein" 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.

Using “das schwarze Schaf sein”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is D-A-S- -S-C-H-W-A-R-Z-E- -S-C-H-A-F- -S-E-I-N — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [das ˈʃvaʁt͡sə ʃaːf zaɪ̯n] (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

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

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.