Dilettant

[ˌdilɛˈtant]

/[ˌdilɛˈtant]/ noun

The verdict

“Dilettant” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemand, der eine Tätigkeit ausübt, ohne dafür professionell ausgebildet worden zu sein

Corpus desk

Index DE-dilettant · Dilettant · German

Dilettant · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for Dilettant
PropertyValue
HeadwordDilettant
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˌdilɛˈtant]
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Dilettant” sits in German frequency

Dilettantranks outside the top 100,000 German headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

Dilettant is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˌdilɛˈtant]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Dilettant, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, 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 Dilettant, spelled D-I-L-E-T-T-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemand, der eine Tätigkeit ausübt, ohne dafür professionell ausgebildet worden zu sein
  2. 2
    jemand, der eine Tätigkeit ausübt, ohne sie zu beherrschen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Er war ein Dilettant in der Malerei.
  2. „Hier kommt meine besondere Qualität als Dilettant ins Spiel: Ich bin Journalist, also das Gegenteil eines Fachmanns.“

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Dilettant"?
"Dilettant" is spelled D-I-L-E-T-T-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌdilɛˈtant].
What does "Dilettant" mean?
As a noun, "Dilettant" means: jemand, der eine Tätigkeit ausübt, ohne dafür professionell ausgebildet worden zu sein
How do you pronounce "Dilettant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Dilettant" is [ˌdilɛˈtant]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Dilettant" come from?
"Dilettant" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list