fummeln

[ˈfʊml̩n]

/[ˈfʊml̩n]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“fummeln” is uncommon German (frequency #63,331 among 3,474 “F” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,331
frequency rank, German
3,474
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mit kurzen Bewegungen der Finger berühren, sich an etwas zu schaffen machen

Corpus desk

Index DE-fummeln · fummeln · German

fummeln · rank #63,331 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,331
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,474
  • PHOTO-FINISH Frühwerk

Nearest frequency peer: Frühwerk (-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 „fummeln“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for fummeln
PropertyValue
Headwordfummeln
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈfʊml̩n]
Letters7
Frequency rank#63,331
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „fummeln“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.fummelnfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Frühwerk“ (#63,330), „Fritze“ (#63,328), „freizuhalten“ (#63,327). Unter 3,474 „F“-Lemmata liegt „fummeln“ bei #63,331. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fummeln is uncommon German at frequency #63,331 among 3,474 “F” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈfʊml̩n]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

fummeln has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is fummeln, spelled F-U-M-M-E-L-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    mit kurzen Bewegungen der Finger berühren, sich an etwas zu schaffen machen
  2. 2
    sexuell erregende Berührungen austauschen
  3. 3
    nach etwas tastend, suchend herumkramen
  4. 4
    sich zögernd, trödelnd mit etwas anderem beschäftigen, beim Fußball mit dem Ball tricksen ohne abzugeben

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ich mag nicht, wenn du an meinem Notebook fummelst!
  2. Ja, gefummelt haben wir schon, damals bei den Partys im Partykeller.

Antonyms

abtörnenzu Potte kommen

This word in other languages

fiddle(English)

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 "fummeln"?
"fummeln" is spelled F-U-M-M-E-L-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈfʊml̩n].
What does "fummeln" mean?
As a verb, "fummeln" means: mit kurzen Bewegungen der Finger berühren, sich an etwas zu schaffen machen
How do you pronounce "fummeln"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fummeln" is [ˈfʊml̩n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fummeln" come from?
"fummeln" 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 "fummeln", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

foltert#63,319gefeilt#63,346gerächt#63,354gerühmt#63,355

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list