drängen
German, verb
drängen is spelled D-R-Ä-N-G-E-N (7 letters) and appears 8.9 times per million words in written German, the 7,736th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Drängen is a German verb meaning “to push, press (living beings, vehicles etc. in some direction)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). Without its umlaut, drangen is a different word: “first/third-person plural preterite of dringen”. With a capital, Drängen is a different word: “gerund of drängen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “jemanden an einen Ort bewegen, ohne dass er es will”.
What does drängen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to push, press (living beings, vehicles etc. in some direction)
Die Polizei drängte die Schaulustigen zur Seite.
- 2
to push, press (one another), to throng, crowd; intransitive use is only possible when a direction is given
Die Schaulustigen drängten sich an den Straßen.
- 3
to press, pressure (someone to do something), to urge, railroad (into)
Der Vertreter drängte die alte Frau zur Unterschrift.
- 4
to press, run out, necessitate action
Die Zeit drängt.
verb
- 1
first/third-person plural preterite of dringen
noun
- 1
neutergerund of drängen
noun
- 1
masculinedative plural of Drang
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. jemanden an einen Ort bewegen, ohne dass er es will 2. jemanden zu einer Handlung bewegen, die er nicht ausführen möchte 3. Handlungsdruck erzeugen
noun: 1. Handlung, jemanden mit Nachdruck zu etwas zu bewegen/veranlassen
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 drängen
- drängt present singular third-person
- drängte past
- gedrängt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- drängend participle present
- dränge first-person indicative present
- drängst indicative present second-person
- drängest second-person singular subjunctive
- dränget plural second-person subjunctive
- drängten first-person indicative plural
- drängtest indicative preterite second-person
- drängtet indicative plural preterite
- dräng imperative second-person singular
- habe gedrängt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gedrängt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- dränge! imperative singular
- drängt! imperative plural
- dränget! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to drängen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is drängen in German?
drängen appears 8.9 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).