karg

[kaʁk]

/[kaʁk]/ adj

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

The verdict

“karg” has 6 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #39,459. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,459
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (sehr) knapp, gering, wenig

Corpus desk

Index DE-karg · karg · German

karg · rank #39,459 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #39,459
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH Karies

Nearest frequency peer: Karies (+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 „karg“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „karg“ 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).

karg vs kg
50% similar
karg vs Kr
25% similar
karg vs kay
50% similar

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

Key facts for karg
PropertyValue
Headwordkarg
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[kaʁk]
Letters4
Frequency rank#39,459
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „karg“

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Karies“ (#39,460), „jäh“ (#39,457), „Katzenfutter“ (#39,461). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „karg“ bei #39,459. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around karg (IPA [kaʁk]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #39,459 among 4,158 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for karg, with forms such as "akrg", "kagr", and "kargg". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "kg", "Kr", "kay", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is karg, spelled K-A-R-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    (sehr) knapp, gering, wenig
  2. 2
    ohne Verschönerungen, sehr einfach
  3. 3
    ertragsarm
  4. 4
    mit dem, was man zu geben bereit ist, zurückhaltend
  5. 5
    penibel darauf achtend, so viel wie möglich für sich zu behalten

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ich erhalte nur einen kargen Lohn, ich kann mir nur das Nötigste kaufen.
  2. Der Photograph musste mit dem kargem Licht zurechtkommen.

Synonyms

beschränktdürftigspärlichkärglichnüchternschlichtschmucklosspärlichmagerödehäuslichengherziggeizigknauserig

Antonyms

häufigreichlichvielreichhaltigertragsreichfruchtbarnutzbarurbarfreigebiggebefreudiggenerösgroßzügiglargenobelspendabelsplendidweitherzigverschwenderischverschwendungssüchtig

This word in other languages

paltry(English)poca(Español)maigre(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • akrg
  • kagr
  • kargg
  • karrg
  • kkarg
  • krag

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

akrg2kagr2kargg1karrg1kkarg1krag2
Edit distance from "karg"

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 "karg"?
"karg" is spelled K-A-R-G. The IPA pronunciation is [kaʁk].
What does "karg" mean?
As an adjective, "karg" means: (sehr) knapp, gering, wenig
What words are commonly confused with "karg"?
"karg" is commonly confused with "kg", "Kr", "kay". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "karg"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "karg" is [kaʁk]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "karg" come from?
"karg" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "karg", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

jimi#39,451mani#39,519gero#39,380Flor#39,343

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Hennen6 variantsliken6 variantsGreis6 variantseurop6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list