Drift
[dʁɪft]
The verdict
“Drift” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #37,459 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #37,459
- frequency rank, German
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - die durch den Wind verursachte Bewegung des Wassers
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Drift |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [dʁɪft] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #37,459 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Drift” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Drift is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [dʁɪft]. Corpus data places it at rank #37,459 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Drift, with forms such as "ddrift", "dirft", and "drfit". 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. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "drin", "Duft", "droht", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Drift, spelled D-R-I-F-T.
Definition
- 1die durch den Wind verursachte Bewegung des Wassers
- 2das durch Wind oder Strömung verursachte Treiben von etwas auf dem Wasser
- 3Kontinentaldrift
- 4eine langsame Änderung eines Merkmals eines Systems, einer Einrichtung oder eines Bauelementes
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddrift,dirft,drfit,drifft,driftt,dritf,drrift,rdift
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Drift - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "Drift"?
What does "Drift" mean?
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Using “Drift”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is D-R-I-F-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [dʁɪft] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “drin” - see the side-by-side comparison. Drift vs drin
- 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.