ernüchtern
German, verb[ɛɐ̯ˈnʏçtɐn]
ernüchtern is spelled E-R-N-Ü-C-H-T-E-R-N (10 letters) and appears about once in every 32 million words in written German, the 334,656th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ernüchtern is a German verb meaning “to sober (to make or become sober)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “den Zustand des (durch Alkohol verursachten) Rausches wieder verlieren und nüchtern werden”.
What does ernüchtern mean in English?
verb
- 1
to sober (to make or become sober)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. den Zustand des (durch Alkohol verursachten) Rausches wieder verlieren und nüchtern werden 2. die positive Einschätzung, Hoffnung, Euphorie oder Illusionen nehmen und in eine ernstere Stimmung versetzen, die mehr den Tatsachen entspricht
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 ernüchtern
- ernüchtert present singular third-person
- ernüchterte past
- haben auxiliary
- ernüchternd participle present
- ernüchtre first-person indicative present
- ernüchtere first-person indicative present
- ernüchter first-person indicative present
- ernüchterst indicative present second-person
- ernüchterest second-person singular subjunctive
- ernüchtrest second-person singular subjunctive
- ernüchteret plural second-person subjunctive
- ernüchtret plural second-person subjunctive
- ernüchterten first-person indicative plural
- ernüchtertest indicative preterite second-person
- ernüchtertet indicative plural preterite
- ernüchter! imperative singular
- ernüchtere! imperative singular
- ernüchtert! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce ernüchtern?
- [ɛɐ̯ˈnʏçtɐn]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to ernüchtern
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ernüchtern in German?
ernüchtern appears about once in every 32 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).