ernster

Name: ernster, German Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[ˈɛʁnstɐ]

/[ˈɛʁnstɐ]/ adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“ernster” has 11 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #17,282. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,282
frequency rank, German: 4,632
“E” headwords: 11
tracked misspellings: 17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst

Corpus desk

Index DE-ernster · ernster · German

ernster · rank #17,282 · 11 variants · 17 confusables

FREQ-MID #17,282
LEN-LONG 7 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
VAR-MID 11 variants
BOOK-MID 4,632
PHOTO-FINISH ernsten

Nearest frequency peer: ernsten (-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.

erkennst

82,722
erlangte

82,721
ernsten

82,720
ernster

82,719
erregte

82,718
erschienene

82,717

What this shows „ernster“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ernster vs erste

71% similar

ernster vs Ernte

57% similar

ernster vs Ester

57% similar

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

Key facts for ernster
Property	Value
Headword	ernster
Language	German
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	[ˈɛʁnstɐ]
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#17,282
Misspellings tracked	11
Confusable pairs	17
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „ernster“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.ernsterliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#17,282

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „ernsten“ (#17,281), „erregte“ (#17,283), „erlangte“ (#17,280). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „ernster“ bei #17,282. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around ernster (IPA [ˈɛʁnstɐ]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #17,282 among 4,632 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for ernster, with forms such as "enrster", "ernnster", and "ernsetr". 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 17 confusable-pair relationships, "erste", "Ernte", "Ester", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, 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 ernster, spelled E-R-N-S-T-E-R.

Definition

1
Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst
2
Genitiv Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst
3
Dativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst
4
Genitiv Plural alle Genera der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst
5
Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der gemischten Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

enrster
ernnster
ernsetr
ernsster
ernsterr
ernstre
ernstter
erntser
errnster
ersnter
renster

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ernster - 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.

Edit distance from "ernster"

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 "ernster"?

"ernster" is spelled E-R-N-S-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɛʁnstɐ].

What does "ernster" mean?

As an adjective, "ernster" means: Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernst

What words are commonly confused with "ernster"?

"ernster" is commonly confused with "erste", "Ernte", "Ester". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "ernster"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ernster" is [ˈɛʁnstɐ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "ernster" come from?

"ernster" 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 "ernster", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ernsten#17,281 erregte#17,283 ergehen#17,277 erahnen#17,276

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

erkennst11 variants gelenkt11 variants dunkles11 variants drängte11 variants