elend
German, adjective
elend is spelled E-L-E-N-D (5 letters) and appears 9.1 times per million words in written German, the 7,590th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Elend is a German adjective meaning “miserable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Elend is a different word: “misery”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “jämmerlich, so dass die Missstände augenfällig sind”.
What does elend mean in English?
adjective
- 1
miserable
- 2
wretched
- 3
sordid
noun
- 1
neutermisery
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. das Land außerhalb der eigenen Heimat, die Fremde, das Wohnen in der Fremde, das Wohnen im Ausland 2. Zustand von Hilf- und Rechtlosigkeit und die daraus resultierende Befindlichkeit des Leides, des Kummers und des Unglücks 3. materieller Mangel
adjective: 1. jämmerlich, so dass die Missstände augenfällig sind 2. sehr, besonders, groß
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 elend
- Elends genitive
- elender masculine nominative singular
- am elendesten superlative
- am elendsten superlative
- elende feminine nominative singular
- elendes neuter nominative singular
- elenden genitive masculine singular
- elendem dative masculine singular
- der elende definite includes-article masculine
- die elende definite feminine includes-article
- das elende definite includes-article neuter
- die elenden definite includes-article nominative
- des elenden definite genitive includes-article
- der elenden definite feminine genitive
- Elende dative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to elend
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is elend in German?
elend appears 9.1 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).