herfallen

[ˈheːɐ̯ˌfalən]

/[ˈheːɐ̯ˌfalən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“herfallen” is uncommon German (frequency #75,758 among 3,372 “H” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#75,758
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemanden unvermittelt attackieren

Corpus desk

Index DE-herfallen · herfallen · German

herfallen · rank #75,758 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #75,758
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH Henner

Nearest frequency peer: Henner (-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 „herfallen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for herfallen
PropertyValue
Headwordherfallen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈheːɐ̯ˌfalən]
Letters9
Frequency rank#75,758
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „herfallen“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Henner“ (#75,757), „heruntergekommene“ (#75,759), „Henna“ (#75,756). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „herfallen“ bei #75,758. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

herfallen is uncommon German at frequency #75,758 among 3,372 “H” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈheːɐ̯ˌfalən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for herfallen, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is herfallen, spelled H-E-R-F-A-L-L-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemanden unvermittelt attackieren
  2. 2
    jemanden unter Druck setzen
  3. 3
    Negatives, Unwahres oder Ähnliches über jemanden sagen
  4. 4
    etwas mit großer Gier und Hast essen

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. „Die Tiere fallen über Obstplantagen, Weinberge, Wälder, Grünanlagen und Gärten her und fressen bei mehr als 300 Pflanzenarten alles kahl.“

Synonyms

überfallenbedrängendiffamierenschlechtmachen

This word in other languages

attack(English)atacar(Português)

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 "herfallen"?
"herfallen" is spelled H-E-R-F-A-L-L-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈheːɐ̯ˌfalən].
What does "herfallen" mean?
As a verb, "herfallen" means: jemanden unvermittelt attackieren
How do you pronounce "herfallen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "herfallen" is [ˈheːɐ̯ˌfalən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "herfallen" come from?
"herfallen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "herfallen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

handliche#75,744Holzinger#75,777hungernde#75,784inkorrekt#75,805

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list