Katastrophe

[ˌkatasˈtʁoːfə]

/[ˌkatasˈtʁoːfə]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Katastrophe” has 17 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #4,282. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,282
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords
17
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - großes, schweres Unglück

Corpus desk

Index DE-katastrophe · Katastrophe · German

Katastrophe · rank #4,282 · 17 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,282
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH Jörg

Nearest frequency peer: Jörg (-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 „Katastrophe“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „Katastrophe“ 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).

Katastrophe vs Katastrophen
92% similar
Katastrophe vs katastrophal
75% similar
Katastrophe vs katastrophale
77% similar

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

Key facts for Katastrophe
PropertyValue
HeadwordKatastrophe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˌkatasˈtʁoːfə]
Letters11
Frequency rank#4,282
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Katastrophe“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Katastropheliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Jörg“ (#4,281), „Kette“ (#4,283), „Irak“ (#4,280). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „Katastrophe“ bei #4,282. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around Katastrophe (IPA [ˌkatasˈtʁoːfə]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,282 among 4,158 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for Katastrophe, with forms such as "aktastrophe", "kaatstrophe", and "katasrtophe". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Katastrophen", "katastrophal", "katastrophale", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Katastrophe, spelled K-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-P-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    großes, schweres Unglück
  2. 2
    entscheidende Wende in einer Tragödie

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die sich anbahnende Katastrophe war nicht mehr zu verhindern.
  2. „Die Reaktorkatastrophe sei ein desaströser Anlass, »doch zugleich auch eine Chance, von einem Pfad abzukommen, der Kollaps, Katastrophen und Kriege heraufbeschwört«, sagt er.“

This word in other languages

catastrophe(English)desastre(Español)catastrophe(Français)desastre(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aktastrophe
  • kaatstrophe
  • katasrtophe
  • katasstrophe
  • katastorphe
  • katastrohpe
  • katastropeh
  • katastrophhe
  • katastropphe
  • katastrpohe
  • katastrrophe
  • katasttrophe
  • katatsrophe
  • katsatrophe
  • kattastrophe
  • kkatastrophe
  • ktaastrophe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Katastrophe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

aktastrophe2kaatstrophe2katasrtophe2katasstrophe1katastorphe2katastrohpe2katastropeh2katastrophhe1
Edit distance from "Katastrophe"

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 "Katastrophe"?
"Katastrophe" is spelled K-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-P-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌkatasˈtʁoːfə].
What does "Katastrophe" mean?
As a noun, "Katastrophe" means: großes, schweres Unglück
What words are commonly confused with "Katastrophe"?
"Katastrophe" is commonly confused with "Katastrophen", "katastrophal", "katastrophale". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Katastrophe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Katastrophe" is [ˌkatasˈtʁoːfə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Katastrophe" come from?
"Katastrophe" 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 "Katastrophe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

langfristig#4,285Medikamente#4,291entsprechen#4,265städtischen#4,308

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

Vorsitzende17 variantsÜberwachung17 variantsbeeinflussen17 variantsDurchmesser17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list