holpern
German, verb
holpern is spelled H-O-L-P-E-R-N (7 letters) and appears about once in every 17 million words in written German, the 235,032nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Holpern is a German verb meaning “to jolt, to bump, to rumble (to move roughly over uneven terrain; especially of vehicles)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Holpern is a different word: “jolt, rumble”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich ruckartig, unruhig bewegen, weil der Untergrund uneben ist”.
What does holpern mean in English?
verb
- 1
to jolt, to bump, to rumble (to move roughly over uneven terrain; especially of vehicles)
- 2
to stumble, to not run entirely smoothly, to have occasional issues (of a process or the flow of a creative work)
Die Umsetzung hat leider etwas geholpert. / Bei der Umsetzung hat es leider etwas geholpert.
noun
- 1
neuterjolt, rumble
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich ruckartig, unruhig bewegen, weil der Untergrund uneben ist 2. sich unsicher, stolpernd bewegen 3. nicht flüssig reden (Person) oder nicht reibungslos funktionieren (zum Beispiel Motor)
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of holpern
- holpert present singular third-person
- holperte past
- geholpert participle past
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- holpernd participle present
- holpre first-person indicative present
- holpere first-person indicative present
- holper first-person indicative present
- holperst indicative present second-person
- holperest second-person singular subjunctive
- holprest second-person singular subjunctive
- holperet plural second-person subjunctive
- holpret plural second-person subjunctive
- holperten first-person indicative plural
- holpertest indicative preterite second-person
- holpertet indicative plural preterite
- holper! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is holpern in German?
holpern appears about once in every 17 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).