Fehlstart

[ˈfeːlˌʃtaʁt]

/[ˈfeːlˌʃtaʁt]/ noun

The verdict

“Fehlstart” is uncommon German (frequency #58,759 among 3,474 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,759
frequency rank, German
3,474
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sport, Rennen: nicht regelkonformer (meist vorzeitiger) Start

Corpus desk

Index DE-fehlstart · Fehlstart · German

Fehlstart · rank #58,759 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,759
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,474
  • PHOTO-FINISH femmes

Nearest frequency peer: femmes (+2 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 „Fehlstart“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Fehlstart
PropertyValue
HeadwordFehlstart
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈfeːlˌʃtaʁt]
Letters9
Frequency rank#58,759
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Fehlstart“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „femmes“ (#58,761), „Faxe“ (#58,756), „Fernsehfilm“ (#58,762). Unter 3,474 „F“-Lemmata liegt „Fehlstart“ bei #58,759. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Fehlstart is uncommon German at frequency #58,759 among 3,474 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈfeːlˌʃtaʁt]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Fehlstart has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Fehlstart, spelled F-E-H-L-S-T-A-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sport, Rennen: nicht regelkonformer (meist vorzeitiger) Start
  2. 2
    missglückter Anfang

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Nach dem dritten Fehlstart wurde die Läuferin disqualifiziert.
  2. „Zu häufig wurden Fehlstarts provoziert, um die Gegner zu verunsichern, zu oft verzögerte sich der Ablauf.“

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 "Fehlstart"?
"Fehlstart" is spelled F-E-H-L-S-T-A-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈfeːlˌʃtaʁt].
What does "Fehlstart" mean?
As a noun, "Fehlstart" means: Sport, Rennen: nicht regelkonformer (meist vorzeitiger) Start
How do you pronounce "Fehlstart"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Fehlstart" is [ˈfeːlˌʃtaʁt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Fehlstart" come from?
"Fehlstart" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "Fehlstart", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list