eigentlich
[ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç]
The verdict
“eigentlich” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #242 in German word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #242
- frequency rank, German
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - im Prinzip
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 | eigentlich |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç] |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #242 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “eigentlich” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for eigentlich is 10 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç]. Corpus data places it at rank #242 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1im Prinzip
- 2in Wahrheit
- 3eine (nicht besonders dringende) Bitte um Antwort signalisierend
- 4im engeren Sinne
Synonyms
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.
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"?
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Using “eigentlich”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is E-I-G-E-N-T-L-I-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩tlɪç] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “eigentliche” - see the side-by-side comparison. eigentlich vs eigentliche
- 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.