Katharsis
[kaˈtaʁzɪs]
The verdict
“Katharsis” is uncommon German (frequency #85,434 among 55,078 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #85,434
- frequency rank, German
- 55,078
- “K” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - die Befreiung von psychischen/seelischen Konflikten durch eine emotionale Handlung
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Katharsis |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [kaˈtaʁzɪs] |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #85,434 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Katharsis” sits in German frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Katharsis is uncommon German at frequency #85,434 among 55,078 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [kaˈtaʁzɪs]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Katharsis has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Katharsis, spelled K-A-T-H-A-R-S-I-S.
Definition
- 1die Befreiung von psychischen/seelischen Konflikten durch eine emotionale Handlung
- 2in der aristotelischen Poetik (psychische) Reinigung als Effekt der Tragödie
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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Using “Katharsis”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is K-A-T-H-A-R-S-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [kaˈtaʁzɪs] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Other uncommon German words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.