fetzen
German, verb
fetzen is spelled F-E-T-Z-E-N (6 letters) and appears 2.8 times per million words in written German, the 18,843rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Fetzen is a German verb meaning “to speed, to rush” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Fetzen is a different word: “scrap, rag (torn piece of fabric or paper)”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich sehr heftig streiten”.
What does fetzen mean in English?
verb
- 1
colloquialto speed, to rush
- 2
colloquialto fight, to wrangle, to squabble
- 3
slangto rip, rule, be awesome
noun
- 1
masculinescrap, rag (torn piece of fabric or paper)
- 2
masculinerags (tattered clothing)
- 3
colloquialmasculinelow-quality, ill-fitting clothing
- 4
Austriadatedmasculinework apron
- 5
Austriacolloquialmasculinecleaning cloth, dustcloth
- 6
Austriacolloquialmasculinelowest grade in school (nicht genügend)
- 7
Austriacolloquialmasculinealcohol intoxication
noun
- 1
neutergerund of fetzen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich sehr heftig streiten 2. etwas mit großer Kraft irgendwo abreißen 3. etwas schnell irgendwohin bringen 4. mitreißen, Begeisterung hervorrufen
noun: 1. unregelmäßiges, kleines Stück von etwas (zum Beispiel von einem Blatt Papier) 2. unzusammenhängener, kleiner Ausschnitt von etwas (zum Beispiel Teile einer Unterhaltung) 3. minderwertiges, schäbiges Kleidungsstück 4. kleines Stoffstück, um Verschmutzungen aufzunehmen
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of fetzen
- Fetzens genitive
- fetzt present singular third-person
- fetzte past
- gefetzt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- haben or sein auxiliary
- fetzend participle present
- fetze first-person indicative present
- fetzest second-person singular subjunctive
- fetzet plural second-person subjunctive
- fetzten first-person indicative plural
- fetztest indicative preterite second-person
- fetztet indicative plural preterite
- fetz imperative second-person singular
- fetz! imperative singular
- fetze! imperative singular
- fetzt! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to fetzen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is fetzen in German?
fetzen appears 2.8 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).