Haarspalter

[ˈhaːɐ̯ˌʃpaltɐ]

/[ˈhaːɐ̯ˌʃpaltɐ]/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency German
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - kleinliche, auf irrelevante Unterscheidungen beharrende Person

Corpus desk

Index DE-haarspalter · Haarspalter · German

Haarspalter · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "H" 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 Haarspalter
PropertyValue
HeadwordHaarspalter
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈhaːɐ̯ˌʃpaltɐ]
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Haarspalter“ im Deutschen

Haarspalterliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

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

Rare enough to double-check

Haarspalter is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈhaːɐ̯ˌʃpaltɐ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "kleinliche, auf irrelevante Unterscheidungen beharrende Person".

Zero misspellings are on record for Haarspalter in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

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 Haarspalter, spelled H-A-A-R-S-P-A-L-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    kleinliche, auf irrelevante Unterscheidungen beharrende Person

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. „›Die Haarspalter dort oben werden das aber als Unterschied anerkennen‹, erwiderte Paul.“

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 "Haarspalter"?
"Haarspalter" is spelled H-A-A-R-S-P-A-L-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈhaːɐ̯ˌʃpaltɐ].
What does "Haarspalter" mean?
As a noun, "Haarspalter" means: kleinliche, auf irrelevante Unterscheidungen beharrende Person
How do you pronounce "Haarspalter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Haarspalter" is [ˈhaːɐ̯ˌʃpaltɐ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Haarspalter" come from?
"Haarspalter" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list