Instinkt

[ɪnˈstɪŋkt]

/[ɪnˈstɪŋkt]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Instinkt” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #20,629. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,629
frequency rank, German
1,488
“I” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tieren angeborene, nicht gesteuerte Verhaltensweise in bestimmen Situationen

Corpus desk

Index DE-instinkt · Instinkt · German

Instinkt · rank #20,629 · 13 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,629
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,488
  • PHOTO-FINISH Innenpolitik

Nearest frequency peer: Innenpolitik (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Instinkt“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Instinkt“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

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).

Instinkt vs Institut
75% similar
Instinkt vs Instinkte
89% similar
Instinkt vs instinktiv
70% similar

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

Key facts for Instinkt
PropertyValue
HeadwordInstinkt
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɪnˈstɪŋkt]
Letters8
Frequency rank#20,629
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Instinkt“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Instinktliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Innenpolitik“ (#20,628), „Interaktionen“ (#20,630), „Initialen“ (#20,627). Unter 1,488 „I“-Lemmata liegt „Instinkt“ bei #20,629. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around Instinkt (IPA [ɪnˈstɪŋkt]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,629 among 1,488 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for Instinkt, with forms such as "innstinkt", "insitnkt", and "insstinkt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Institut", "Instinkte", "instinktiv", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Instinkt, spelled I-N-S-T-I-N-K-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tieren angeborene, nicht gesteuerte Verhaltensweise in bestimmen Situationen
  2. 2
    innerer Impuls, in bestimmten Situationen ohne Überlegung, jedoch wenigstens subjektiv angemessen zu handeln

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Das Graben in der Erde ist ein bei Hunden typischer Instinkt.
  2. Ihr Instinkt sagte ihr, dass sie vorsichtig sein musste.

Synonyms

NaturtriebGefühlImpulsIntuition

Antonyms

ErlerntesEntscheidungRatio

This word in other languages

instinct(English)instinto(Español)instinct(Français)instinto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • innstinkt
  • insitnkt
  • insstinkt
  • instiknt
  • instinkkt
  • instinktt
  • instinnkt
  • instintk
  • instnikt
  • insttinkt
  • intsinkt
  • isntinkt
  • nistinkt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Instinkt - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

innstinkt1insitnkt2insstinkt1instiknt2instinkkt1instinktt1instinnkt1instintk2
Edit distance from "Instinkt"

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 "Instinkt"?
"Instinkt" is spelled I-N-S-T-I-N-K-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ɪnˈstɪŋkt].
What does "Instinkt" mean?
As a noun, "Instinkt" means: Tieren angeborene, nicht gesteuerte Verhaltensweise in bestimmen Situationen
What words are commonly confused with "Instinkt"?
"Instinkt" is commonly confused with "Institut", "Instinkte", "instinktiv". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Instinkt"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Instinkt" is [ɪnˈstɪŋkt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Instinkt" come from?
"Instinkt" 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 "Instinkt", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Hubertus#20,617Klägerin#20,642hektisch#20,614Konzepts#20,647

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

Impressum13 variantsknallhart13 variantsKurzfilm13 variantsGespenst13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list