erschrak

[ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaːk]

/[ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaːk]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“erschrak” is uncommon German (frequency #62,374 among 4,632 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,374
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erschrecken

Corpus desk

Index DE-erschrak · erschrak · German

erschrak · rank #62,374 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #62,374
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH Erscheinens

Nearest frequency peer: Erscheinens (-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 „erschrak“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for erschrak
PropertyValue
Headworderschrak
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaːk]
Letters8
Frequency rank#62,374
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „erschrak“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).erschrakfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Erscheinens“ (#62,373), „ersaufen“ (#62,372), „erstreckten“ (#62,376). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „erschrak“ bei #62,374. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

erschrak is uncommon German at frequency #62,374 among 4,632 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaːk]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for erschrak in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is erschrak, spelled E-R-S-C-H-R-A-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erschrecken
  2. 2
    3. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erschrecken

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 "erschrak"?
"erschrak" is spelled E-R-S-C-H-R-A-K. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaːk].
What does "erschrak" mean?
As a verb, "erschrak" means: 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erschrecken
How do you pronounce "erschrak"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "erschrak" is [ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁaːk]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "erschrak" come from?
"erschrak" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "erschrak", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ersaufen#62,372entlockt#62,365Fahrrads#62,387Fallhöhe#62,390

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list