fahl
[faːl]
The verdict
“fahl” is uncommon German (frequency #76,748 among 3,474 “F” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,748
- frequency rank, German
- 3,474
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (auf nicht schöne Weise) ohne kräftige Farbe, farbenarm, blass, fast farblos
Corpus desk
Index DE-fahl · fahl · German
fahl · rank #76,748 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #76,748
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,474
- PHOTO-FINISH factors
Nearest frequency peer: factors (-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 „fahl“
Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer
- Fachkenntnis
Fachkenntnis
23,255 corpus weight
- factors
factors
23,254 corpus weight
- fahl
fahl
23,253 corpus weight
- Fahrgastzah…
Fahrgastzahlen
23,251 corpus weight
- Fahrprüfung
Fahrprüfung
23,250 corpus weight
- Faktors
Faktors
23,249 corpus weight
What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „fahl“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fahl |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [faːl] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #76,748 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „fahl“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
fahl is uncommon German at frequency #76,748 among 3,474 “F” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [faːl]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for fahl in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is fahl, spelled F-A-H-L.
Definition
- 1(auf nicht schöne Weise) ohne kräftige Farbe, farbenarm, blass, fast farblos
- 2nicht hell, schwach erhellt, trüb
- 3kaum Kraft habend, schwach, wie tot
- 4leicht übel, schwindelig
- 5(bis ins 17. Jahrhundert geläufig); in Bezug auf Haar und Bart: blond
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fahl appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Der Lehrer wurde fahl vor Ärger.
„Der fahle Herr stellte sich sofort als Regierungsrat Hifthorn von Hosenboden vor und begann von einer Geschwulst zu reden, die er im Leibe habe.“
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 "fahl"?
What does "fahl" mean?
How do you pronounce "fahl"?
What language does "fahl" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fahl", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).