festbeißen

[ˈfɛstˌbaɪ̯sn̩]

/[ˈfɛstˌbaɪ̯sn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“festbeißen” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - sich so sehr mit einer Aufgabe, einem schwierigen (unlösbaren) Problem, beschäftigen, dass man anderes kaum wahrnimmt

Corpus desk

Index DE-festbei-en · festbeißen · German

festbeißen · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for festbeißen
PropertyValue
Headwordfestbeißen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈfɛstˌbaɪ̯sn̩]
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „festbeißen“ im Deutschen

festbeißensitzt jenseits der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Formen, im Schwanz spezialisierten oder seltenen Wortschatzes.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

festbeißen is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈfɛstˌbaɪ̯sn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

festbeißen has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is festbeißen, spelled F-E-S-T-B-E-I-S-S-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    sich so sehr mit einer Aufgabe, einem schwierigen (unlösbaren) Problem, beschäftigen, dass man anderes kaum wahrnimmt
  2. 2
    mit dem Gebiss zupacken und nicht mehr loslassen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sie biss sich an dieser Fragestellung fest.
  2. Der kleine Kläffer biss sich am Hosenbein fest.

Antonyms

loskommenloslassen

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "festbeißen"?
"festbeißen" is spelled F-E-S-T-B-E-I-SS-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈfɛstˌbaɪ̯sn̩].
What does "festbeißen" mean?
As a verb, "festbeißen" means: sich so sehr mit einer Aufgabe, einem schwierigen (unlösbaren) Problem, beschäftigen, dass man anderes kaum wahrnimmt
How do you pronounce "festbeißen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "festbeißen" is [ˈfɛstˌbaɪ̯sn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "festbeißen" come from?
"festbeißen" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list