Harakiri

[ˌhaʁaˈkiːʁi]

/[ˌhaʁaˈkiːʁi]/ noun

The verdict

“Harakiri” is uncommon German (frequency #74,683 among 3,372 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#74,683
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - gängige Bezeichnung für Seppuku, den rituellen Selbstmord im feudalistischen Japan

Corpus desk

Index DE-harakiri · Harakiri · German

Harakiri · rank #74,683 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #74,683
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH hanging

Nearest frequency peer: hanging (-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 „Harakiri“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Harakiri
PropertyValue
HeadwordHarakiri
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˌhaʁaˈkiːʁi]
Letters8
Frequency rank#74,683
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Harakiri“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Harakirifällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „hanging“ (#74,682), „Harfen“ (#74,684), „Handelsschiffe“ (#74,681). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „Harakiri“ bei #74,683. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Harakiri is uncommon German at frequency #74,683 among 3,372 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˌhaʁaˈkiːʁi]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for Harakiri in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Harakiri, spelled H-A-R-A-K-I-R-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    gängige Bezeichnung für Seppuku, den rituellen Selbstmord im feudalistischen Japan
  2. 2
    übertragen von [1], „gesellschaftlicher Selbstmord“, eine Blamage, die das Ende der Karriere bedeutet
  3. 3
    übertragen von [1], bewusstes Herbeiführen einer Niederlage (die ebenfalls meist das Ende der Karriere bedeutet)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Der Herr befahl ihm, Harakiri zu begehen.
  2. Millionen Fernsehzuschauer sahen dem Harakiri des bislang so beliebten Moderators genüsslich zu.

Synonyms

SeppukuSelbstaufgabesehenden Auges ins Verderben rennen

This word in other languages

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 "Harakiri"?
"Harakiri" is spelled H-A-R-A-K-I-R-I. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌhaʁaˈkiːʁi].
What does "Harakiri" mean?
As a noun, "Harakiri" means: gängige Bezeichnung für Seppuku, den rituellen Selbstmord im feudalistischen Japan
How do you pronounce "Harakiri"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Harakiri" is [ˌhaʁaˈkiːʁi]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Harakiri" come from?
"Harakiri" 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 "Harakiri", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list