en masse

[ɑ̃ːˈmas]

/[ɑ̃ːˈmas]/ phrase

The verdict

“en masse” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - gehoben: massenhaft, in sehr großer Menge oder Zahl; gar nicht wenig

Corpus desk

Index DE-en-masse · en masse · German

en masse · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "E" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for en masse
PropertyValue
Headworden masse
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[ɑ̃ːˈmas]
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „en masse“ im Deutschen

en masseliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

en masse is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed [ɑ̃ːˈmas]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "gehoben: massenhaft, in sehr großer Menge oder Zahl; gar nicht wenig".

en masse has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is en masse, spelled E-N- -M-A-S-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    gehoben: massenhaft, in sehr großer Menge oder Zahl; gar nicht wenig

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Damit nicht genug, hat er ein billionenschweres Programm angeschoben, bei dem die Fed Staatsanleihen und Hypothekenpapiere en masse ankauft.“
  2. Der BVB war drückend überlegen, hatte Torchancen en masse - besonders durch Marco Reus und Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "en masse"?
"en masse" is spelled E-N- -M-A-S-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ɑ̃ːˈmas].
What does "en masse" mean?
As a phrase, "en masse" means: gehoben: massenhaft, in sehr großer Menge oder Zahl; gar nicht wenig
How do you pronounce "en masse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "en masse" is [ɑ̃ːˈmas]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "en masse" come from?
"en masse" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list