dunkel
[ˈdʊŋkl̩]
The verdict
“dunkel” has 8 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #3,030. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #3,030
- frequency rank, German
- 2,764
- “D” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ohne oder mit wenig Licht, lichtlos
Corpus desk
Index DE-dunkel · dunkel · German
dunkel · rank #3,030 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #3,030
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,764
- PHOTO-FINISH dicke
Nearest frequency peer: dicke (-1 rank slots)
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “dunkel”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Blumen
Blumen
96,974 corpus weight
- BMW
BMW
96,973 corpus weight
- dicke
dicke
96,972 corpus weight
- dunkel
dunkel
96,971 corpus weight
- eingerichtet
eingerichtet
96,970 corpus weight
- fett
fett
96,969 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “dunkel” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | dunkel |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈdʊŋkl̩] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,030 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Wo “dunkel” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around dunkel (IPA [ˈdʊŋkl̩]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #3,030 among 2,764 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for dunkel, with forms such as "ddunkel", "dnukel", and "duknel". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dünne", "dunkle", "dünnen", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is dunkel, spelled D-U-N-K-E-L.
Definition
- 1ohne oder mit wenig Licht, lichtlos
- 2im Farbton mehr oder weniger kräftig
- 3tief tönend
- 4unbestimmt, ungewiss
- 5unklar, nicht vollständig verständlich, ersichtlich
- 6verdächtig, zwielichtig
- 7düster, unerfreulich, trostlos
- 8phonetisches Merkmal der hinteren Vokale
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dunkel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Im Winter wird es früher dunkel.
„Hanna lachte leise im Dunkeln.“
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddunkel
- dnukel
- duknel
- dunekl
- dunkell
- dunkkel
- dunnkel
- udnkel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dunkel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "dunkel"?
What does "dunkel" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dunkel"?
How do you pronounce "dunkel"?
What language does "dunkel" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dunkel", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "dunkel". Here's where to go from here.
- "dunkel" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "dünne". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #3,030 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more German words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.