imp

[ɪmp]

/[ɪmp]/ noun

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

The verdict

“imp” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #44,702) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#44,702
frequency rank, German
1,488
“I” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein nicht mächtiges Fabelwesen von gedrungener Gestalt; meist grünlich/bräunliche Hautfarbe

Corpus desk

Index DE-imp · imp · German

imp · rank #44,702 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #44,702
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,488
  • PHOTO-FINISH ILS

Nearest frequency peer: ILS (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „imp“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „imp“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

imp vs is
33% similar
imp vs IT
0% similar
imp vs IP
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for imp
PropertyValue
Headwordimp
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɪmp]
Letters3
Frequency rank#44,702
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „imp“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).impliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „ILS“ (#44,701), „including“ (#44,703), „Illuminaten“ (#44,700). Unter 1,488 „I“-Lemmata liegt „imp“ bei #44,702. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for imp is neighbouring look-alikes ("is", "IT", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ɪmp]. Frequency #44,702 among 1,488 “I” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for imp in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "is", "IT", "IP", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is imp, spelled I-M-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    ein nicht mächtiges Fabelwesen von gedrungener Gestalt; meist grünlich/bräunliche Hautfarbe
  2. 2
    ein schelmisches, ungezogenes Kind

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Imps often appear in fantasy and science fiction literature as well as in computer games.

Synonyms

prankstervillainrascalscamp

Antonyms

cherub

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 "imp"?
"imp" is spelled I-M-P. The IPA pronunciation is [ɪmp].
What does "imp" mean?
As a noun, "imp" means: ein nicht mächtiges Fabelwesen von gedrungener Gestalt; meist grünlich/bräunliche Hautfarbe
What words are commonly confused with "imp"?
"imp" is commonly confused with "is", "IT", "IP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "imp"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "imp" is [ɪmp]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "imp" come from?
"imp" 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 "imp", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ILS#44,701jed#44,721LNG#44,774loh#44,776

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list