hinterfrage

[hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡə]

/[hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡə]/ verb

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

The verdict

“hinterfrage” is uncommon German (frequency #73,608 among 3,372 “H” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,608
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinterfragen

Corpus desk

Index DE-hinterfrage · hinterfrage · German

hinterfrage · rank #73,608 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,608
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH Hirngespinste

Nearest frequency peer: Hirngespinste (+2 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 „hinterfrage“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hinterfrage
PropertyValue
Headwordhinterfrage
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡə]
Letters11
Frequency rank#73,608
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „hinterfrage“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).hinterfragefällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Hirngespinste“ (#73,610), „hiesiger“ (#73,605), „hochgearbeitet“ (#73,612). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „hinterfrage“ bei #73,608. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hinterfrage is uncommon German at frequency #73,608 among 3,372 “H” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡə]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for hinterfrage in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is hinterfrage, spelled H-I-N-T-E-R-F-R-A-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinterfragen
  2. 2
    1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinterfragen
  3. 3
    3. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinterfragen
  4. 4
    2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinterfragen

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 "hinterfrage"?
"hinterfrage" is spelled H-I-N-T-E-R-F-R-A-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is [hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡə].
What does "hinterfrage" mean?
As a verb, "hinterfrage" means: 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hinterfragen
How do you pronounce "hinterfrage"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hinterfrage" is [hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hinterfrage" come from?
"hinterfrage" 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 "hinterfrage", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Heuschrecke#73,603heranführen#73,599Indizierung#73,645Innenseiten#73,650

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list