Karteileiche
German, noun/kaʁˈtaɪ̯ˌlaɪ̯çə/
Karteileiche is spelled K-A-R-T-E-I-L-E-I-C-H-E (12 letters) and appears about once in every 29 million words in written German, the 313,524th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Karteileiche is a German feminine noun meaning “nominal or inactive member (someone who is still formally registered as a member, but is completely inactive in practice)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “nicht aktives, aber eingetragenes Mitglied einer Organisation (beispielsweise einer Partei, eines Vereins)”.
What does Karteileiche mean in English?
noun
- 1
colloquialfemininenominal or inactive member (someone who is still formally registered as a member, but is completely inactive in practice)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. nicht aktives, aber eingetragenes Mitglied einer Organisation (beispielsweise einer Partei, eines Vereins)
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Karteileiche
- Karteileichen plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Karteileiche?
- /kaʁˈtaɪ̯ˌlaɪ̯çə/
- [kaʁˈtaɪ̯ˌlaɪ̯çə]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is Karteileiche in German?
Karteileiche appears about once in every 29 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).