eigentlich

[ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç]

/[ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç]/ adv

The verdict

“eigentlich” has 15 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #242. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#242
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - im Prinzip

Corpus desk

Index DE-eigentlich · eigentlich · German

eigentlich · rank #242 · 15 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #242
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH davon

Nearest frequency peer: davon (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “eigentlich”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “eigentlich” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

eigentlich vs eigentliche
91% similar
eigentlich vs eigentlichen
83% similar
eigentlich vs eigentlicher
83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for eigentlich
PropertyValue
Headwordeigentlich
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç]
Letters10
Frequency rank#242
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “eigentlich” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).eigentlichliegt hier:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „davon“ (#241), „fast“ (#243), „beiden“ (#240). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around eigentlich (IPA [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç]), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #242 among 4,632 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for eigentlich, with forms such as "egientlich", "eiegntlich", and "eigenltich". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "eigentliche", "eigentlichen", "eigentlicher", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 eigentlich, spelled E-I-G-E-N-T-L-I-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    im Prinzip
  2. 2
    in Wahrheit
  3. 3
    eine (nicht besonders dringende) Bitte um Antwort signalisierend
  4. 4
    im engeren Sinne

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Es ist eigentlich beunruhigend, wie viele Autos es auf deutschen Straßen gibt, aber es kurbelt die Wirtschaft an.
  2. „Eigentlich sind es sogar viel mehr Gipfel, dann der Seebuck und der Stübenwasen liegen direkt auf der Strecke, so dass sie letztlich zum Gipfelsammler werden.“

Synonyms

im Grundeim Grunde genommenin Wirklichkeitübrigens

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • egientlich
  • eiegntlich
  • eigenltich
  • eigenntlich
  • eigentilch
  • eigentlcih
  • eigentlicch
  • eigentlichh
  • eigentlihc
  • eigentllich
  • eigenttlich
  • eigetnlich
  • eiggentlich
  • eignetlich
  • iegentlich

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of eigentlich - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

egientlich2eiegntlich2eigenltich2eigenntlich1eigentilch2eigentlcih2eigentlicch1eigentlichh1
Edit distance from "eigentlich"

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 "eigentlich"?
"eigentlich" is spelled E-I-G-E-N-T-L-I-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç].
What does "eigentlich" mean?
As an adverb, "eigentlich" means: im Prinzip
What words are commonly confused with "eigentlich"?
"eigentlich" is commonly confused with "eigentliche", "eigentlichen", "eigentlicher". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "eigentlich"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "eigentlich" is [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "eigentlich" come from?
"eigentlich" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "eigentlich", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list