kaputtgehen

[kaˈpʊtˌɡeːən]

/[kaˈpʊtˌɡeːən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“kaputtgehen” is uncommon German (frequency #72,592 among 4,158 “K” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,592
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - in einen nicht mehr verwendungsfähigen Zustand geraten

Corpus desk

Index DE-kaputtgehen · kaputtgehen · German

kaputtgehen · rank #72,592 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,592
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kappes

Nearest frequency peer: Kappes (-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 „kaputtgehen“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „kaputtgehen“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for kaputtgehen
PropertyValue
Headwordkaputtgehen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[kaˈpʊtˌɡeːən]
Letters11
Frequency rank#72,592
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „kaputtgehen“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).kaputtgehenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Kappes“ (#72,591), „Kapitalertragsteuer“ (#72,590), „Kartoffelpüree“ (#72,594). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „kaputtgehen“ bei #72,592. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

kaputtgehen is uncommon German at frequency #72,592 among 4,158 “K” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [kaˈpʊtˌɡeːən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for kaputtgehen in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is kaputtgehen, spelled K-A-P-U-T-T-G-E-H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    in einen nicht mehr verwendungsfähigen Zustand geraten
  2. 2
    kaum mehr lebensfähig oder wirtschaftlich nicht mehr rentabel werden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Doch: Was lohnt sich finanziell und ökologisch betrachtet eher? Die alten Lichterketten nutzen, bis sie kaputtgehen, oder sie besser frühzeitig austauschen?“
  2. „Indessen, gerade diese opferwilligen Menschen durften nicht halb krank an die Front zurück und dort sinnlos kaputtgehen.“

This word in other languages

break down(English)se casser(Français)quebrar(Português)

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 "kaputtgehen"?
"kaputtgehen" is spelled K-A-P-U-T-T-G-E-H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [kaˈpʊtˌɡeːən].
What does "kaputtgehen" mean?
As a verb, "kaputtgehen" means: in einen nicht mehr verwendungsfähigen Zustand geraten
How do you pronounce "kaputtgehen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kaputtgehen" is [kaˈpʊtˌɡeːən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "kaputtgehen" come from?
"kaputtgehen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "kaputtgehen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Kaufhäusern#72,597Kernproblem#72,602Kinderärzte#72,605Klangkörper#72,610

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list