hängen lassen
[ˈhɛŋənˌlasn̩]
The verdict
“hängen lassen” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as a phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — etwas Aufgehängtes (zum Beispiel ein Kleidungsstück) irgendwo zurücklassen, dort vergessen
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hängen lassen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| IPA | [ˈhɛŋənˌlasn̩] |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hängen lassen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for hängen lassen is 13 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈhɛŋənˌlasn̩]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for hängen lassen in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is hängen lassen, spelled H-Ä-N-G-E-N- -L-A-S-S-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1etwas Aufgehängtes (zum Beispiel ein Kleidungsstück) irgendwo zurücklassen, dort vergessen
- 2(jemandem) nicht die nötige Hilfe/Unterstützung gewähren
- 3fatalistisch, antriebslos vor sich hin leben
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.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “hängen lassen, German word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/de/wort/hangen-lassen
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "hängen lassen"?
What does "hängen lassen" mean?
How do you pronounce "hängen lassen"?
What language does "hängen lassen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “hängen lassen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is H-Ä-N-G-E-N- -L-A-S-S-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈhɛŋənˌlasn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Nearby German words
Other entries that begin with the letter H in our German index: