hinterfragen
[hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡn̩]
The verdict
“hinterfragen” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #11,674 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #11,674
- frequency rank, German
- 12
- letters
- 19
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - überlegen und/oder herausfinden, ob eine Aussage wahr beziehungsweise glaubhaft ist oder welche Intention oder Gründe hinter einer Aussage oder Handlung stehen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hinterfragen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡn̩] |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #11,674 |
| Misspellings tracked | 19 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hinterfragen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for hinterfragen is 12 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #11,674 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "überlegen und/oder herausfinden, ob eine Aussage wahr beziehungsweise glaubhaft ist oder welche Intention oder Gründe hinter einer Aussage oder Handlung stehen".
Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for hinterfragen, with forms such as "hhinterfragen", "hinetrfragen", and "hinnterfragen". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "hinterfragt", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is hinterfragen, spelled H-I-N-T-E-R-F-R-A-G-E-N.
Definition
- 1überlegen und/oder herausfinden, ob eine Aussage wahr beziehungsweise glaubhaft ist oder welche Intention oder Gründe hinter einer Aussage oder Handlung stehen
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hhinterfragen,hinetrfragen,hinnterfragen,hintefrragen,hinterfargen,hinterffragen,hinterfraegn,hinterfragenn,hinterfraggen,hinterfragne,hinterfrgaen,hinterfrragen,hinterrfagen,hinterrfragen,hintrefragen,hintterfragen,hitnerfragen,hniterfragen,ihnterfragen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hinterfragen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "hinterfragen"?
What does "hinterfragen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "hinterfragen"?
How do you pronounce "hinterfragen"?
What language does "hinterfragen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “hinterfragen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is H-I-N-T-E-R-F-R-A-G-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [hɪntɐˈfʁaːɡn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hinterfragt” - see the side-by-side comparison. hinterfragen vs hinterfragt
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.