erschrecken
[ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁɛkn̩]
The verdict
“erschrecken” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #15,347 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #15,347
- frequency rank, German
- 11
- letters
- 18
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - jemandem einen Schrecken einflößen
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 | erschrecken |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁɛkn̩] |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #15,347 |
| Misspellings tracked | 18 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “erschrecken” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for erschrecken is 11 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁɛkn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #15,347 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "jemandem einen Schrecken einflößen".
Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for erschrecken, with forms such as "ercshrecken", "errschrecken", and "erscchrecken". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "erschreckt", "erstrecken", "erschrocken", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is erschrecken, spelled E-R-S-C-H-R-E-C-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1jemandem einen Schrecken einflößen
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ercshrecken,errschrecken,erscchrecken,erschercken,erschhrecken,erschrceken,erschreccken,erschrecekn,erschreckenn,erschreckken,erschreckne,erschrekcen,erschrrecken,erscrhecken,ershcrecken,ersschrecken,esrchrecken,reschrecken
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of erschrecken - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "erschrecken"?
What does "erschrecken" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "erschrecken"?
How do you pronounce "erschrecken"?
What language does "erschrecken" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “erschrecken”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is E-R-S-C-H-R-E-C-K-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ɛɐ̯ˈʃʁɛkn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “erschreckt” - see the side-by-side comparison. erschrecken vs erschreckt
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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.