Kanonenfutter
[kaˈnoːnənˌfʊtɐ]
The verdict
“Kanonenfutter” is uncommon German (frequency #68,384 among 4,158 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #68,384
- frequency rank, German
- 4,158
- “K” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - salopp Soldaten, die in einem Krieg rücksichtslos gegenüber der feindlichen Waffenwirkung für wenig Erfolg versprechende militärische Aktionen geopfert werden
Corpus desk
Index DE-kanonenfutter · Kanonenfutter · German
Kanonenfutter · rank #68,384 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #68,384
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,158
- PHOTO-FINISH Kanacken
Nearest frequency peer: Kanacken (-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.
Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Kanonenfutter“
Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer
- Kairos
Kairos
31,621 corpus weight
- Kalbfleisch
Kalbfleisch
31,620 corpus weight
- Kanacken
Kanacken
31,618 corpus weight
- Kanonenfutt…
Kanonenfutter
31,617 corpus weight
- Karben
Karben
31,615 corpus weight
- Karikaturist
Karikaturist
31,614 corpus weight
What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Kanonenfutter“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Kanonenfutter |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [kaˈnoːnənˌfʊtɐ] |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #68,384 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „Kanonenfutter“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
Kanonenfutter is uncommon German at frequency #68,384 among 4,158 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [kaˈnoːnənˌfʊtɐ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "salopp Soldaten, die in einem Krieg rücksichtslos gegenüber der feindlichen Waffenwirkung für wenig Erfolg versprechende militärische Aktionen geopfert werden".
Zero misspellings are on record for Kanonenfutter in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Kanonenfutter, spelled K-A-N-O-N-E-N-F-U-T-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1salopp Soldaten, die in einem Krieg rücksichtslos gegenüber der feindlichen Waffenwirkung für wenig Erfolg versprechende militärische Aktionen geopfert werden
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Kanonenfutter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
„Als einmal ein Leutnant zu mir sagte, als Kanonenfutter sei ich schon recht, dachte ich mir: »Das wollen wir schon sehen.«“
„Die Männer führen sinnlosen Krieg. Die Weiber wollen nicht mehr. Sie haben Kanonenfutter geboren[…].“
This word in other languages
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
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Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Kanonenfutter", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).