erbärmlich
[ˌɛɐ̯ˈbɛʁmlɪç]
The verdict
“erbärmlich” has 16 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #12,698. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #12,698
- frequency rank, German
- 57,060
- “E” headwords
- 16
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - elend, so dass man Mitleid haben muss, jämmerlich
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 | erbärmlich |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˌɛɐ̯ˈbɛʁmlɪç] |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #12,698 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “erbärmlich” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 16 spelling variants around erbärmlich (IPA [ˌɛɐ̯ˈbɛʁmlɪç]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #12,698 among 57,060 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for erbärmlich, with forms such as "ebrärmlich", "erbbärmlich", and "erbrämlich". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "erbärmliche", "erbärmlichen", 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 any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is erbärmlich, spelled E-R-B-Ä-R-M-L-I-C-H.
Definition
- 1elend, so dass man Mitleid haben muss, jämmerlich
- 2von sehr schlechter Qualität
- 3moralisch verwerflich, gemein
- 4sehr groß (um Negatives zu verstärken)
- 5nur sehr (um Adjektive oder Verben mit negativen Sinn zu verstärken)
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ebrärmlich
- erbbärmlich
- erbrämlich
- erbämrlich
- erbärlmich
- erbärmilch
- erbärmlcih
- erbärmlicch
- erbärmlichh
- erbärmlihc
- erbärmllich
- erbärmmlich
- erbärrmlich
- errbärmlich
- eräbrmlich
- rebärmlich
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of erbärmlich - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "erbärmlich"?
What does "erbärmlich" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "erbärmlich"?
How do you pronounce "erbärmlich"?
What language does "erbärmlich" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “erbärmlich”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is E-R-B-Ä-R-M-L-I-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˌɛɐ̯ˈbɛʁmlɪç] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “erbärmliche” - see the side-by-side comparison. erbärmlich vs erbärmliche
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Same frequency band
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.