kaum

/[kaʊ̯m]/ adv

Letters

4 characters

Frequency Rank

#379

in German word usage

Misspellings

5

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

kaum is anGermanadv. It means: nur zu einem sehr geringen Grad; so gut wie gar nicht Pronounced [kaʊ̯m]. It ranks #379 in German word frequency. Often confused with km and ku.

Key facts for kaum
PropertyValue
Headwordkaum
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdv
IPA[kaʊ̯m]
Letters4
Frequency rank#379
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of kaum in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for kaum is 4 letters long, classified as anadv, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [kaʊ̯m]. Corpus data places it at rank #379 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for kaum, with forms such as "akum", "kamu", and "kaumm". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "km", "ku", "Kim", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is kaum, spelled K-A-U-M, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    nur zu einem sehr geringen Grad; so gut wie gar nicht
  2. 2
    nur mit Anstrengung möglich
  3. 3
    zeitlich in geringem Maße abweichend

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: akum,kamu,kaumm,kkaum,kuam

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for kaum

Misspelling Variants of "kaum"

akum4kamu4kaumm5kkaum5kuam4
Misspelling Variants of "kaum"

Frequency rank: #379 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "kaum"?
"kaum" is spelled K-A-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is [kaʊ̯m].
What does "kaum" mean?
As an adv, "kaum" means: nur zu einem sehr geringen Grad; so gut wie gar nicht
What words are commonly confused with "kaum"?
"kaum" is commonly confused with "km", "ku", "Kim". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "kaum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kaum" is [kaʊ̯m]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "kaum" come from?
"kaum" 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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter K in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.