ernstlich

[ˈɛʁnstlɪç]

/[ˈɛʁnstlɪç]/ adj

The verdict

“ernstlich” is uncommon German (frequency #65,177 among 4,632 “E” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,177
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mit schwerwiegenden, weitreichenden Folgen

Corpus desk

Index DE-ernstlich · ernstlich · German

ernstlich · rank #65,177 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,177
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH ermunterte

Nearest frequency peer: ermunterte (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „ernstlich“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „ernstlich“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ernstlich
PropertyValue
Headwordernstlich
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈɛʁnstlɪç]
Letters9
Frequency rank#65,177
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „ernstlich“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).ernstlichfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „ermunterte“ (#65,176), „Erntehelfer“ (#65,178), „ermahnte“ (#65,175). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „ernstlich“ bei #65,177. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ernstlich is uncommon German at frequency #65,177 among 4,632 “E” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ˈɛʁnstlɪç]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

ernstlich doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is ernstlich, spelled E-R-N-S-T-L-I-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    mit schwerwiegenden, weitreichenden Folgen
  2. 2
    ohne Verstellung
  3. 3
    Gefahr bringend, enthaltend

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Wir hatten verabredet, daß ich gleich nach Tisch, um drei zu ihm kommen sollte. Es war ein heller Tag im Oktober und Erhard nahm an, daß das Tageslicht bis gegen halb fünf Uhr vorhalten werde. Ich kam unpünktlich, wie immer, etwas nach halb vier. Erhard nahm mir das ernstlich übel […]“
  2. „Nicht, daß sie damit jemals eine ernstliche Anspielung hätte machen wollen – ich erwähne es nur, weil ich gerade jetzt daran dachte.“

Synonyms

Antonyms

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); 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 "ernstlich"?
"ernstlich" is spelled E-R-N-S-T-L-I-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɛʁnstlɪç].
What does "ernstlich" mean?
As an adjective, "ernstlich" means: mit schwerwiegenden, weitreichenden Folgen
How do you pronounce "ernstlich"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ernstlich" is [ˈɛʁnstlɪç]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ernstlich" come from?
"ernstlich" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "ernstlich", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list