fakultativ

[ˌfakʊltaˈtiːf]

/[ˌfakʊltaˈtiːf]/ adj

The verdict

“fakultativ” is uncommon German (frequency #79,137 among 3,474 “F” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#79,137
frequency rank, German
3,474
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - möglich, aber nicht zwingend erforderlich; freiwillig

Corpus desk

Index DE-fakultativ · fakultativ · German

fakultativ · rank #79,137 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #79,137
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,474
  • PHOTO-FINISH Familienfotos

Nearest frequency peer: Familienfotos (+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 „fakultativ“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for fakultativ
PropertyValue
Headwordfakultativ
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˌfakʊltaˈtiːf]
Letters10
Frequency rank#79,137
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „fakultativ“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Familienfotos“ (#79,138), „Fahrertür“ (#79,135), „Fahnenflucht“ (#79,134). Unter 3,474 „F“-Lemmata liegt „fakultativ“ bei #79,137. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fakultativ is uncommon German at frequency #79,137 among 3,474 “F” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ˌfakʊltaˈtiːf]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for fakultativ, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

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 fakultativ, spelled F-A-K-U-L-T-A-T-I-V.

Definition

  1. 1
    möglich, aber nicht zwingend erforderlich; freiwillig
  2. 2
    so, dass man es im Satzzusammenhang einsetzen kann, aber nicht einsetzen muss

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Fakultative Anaerobier sind Organismen, die in der Lage sind, auch unter Abwesenheit von Sauerstoff zu überleben.
  2. Der Ausflug auf dem Kreuzfahrtschiff ist fakultativ, er gehört nicht zum Pflichtprogramm und ist in der Regel mit Zusatzkosten verbunden.

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 "fakultativ"?
"fakultativ" is spelled F-A-K-U-L-T-A-T-I-V. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌfakʊltaˈtiːf].
What does "fakultativ" mean?
As an adjective, "fakultativ" means: möglich, aber nicht zwingend erforderlich; freiwillig
How do you pronounce "fakultativ"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fakultativ" is [ˌfakʊltaˈtiːf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fakultativ" come from?
"fakultativ" 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 "fakultativ", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list