knack

[knak]

/[knak]/ intj

The verdict

“knack” is uncommon German (frequency #53,828 among 4,158 “K” headwords), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,828
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - bezeichnet das kurze Geräusch, wenn etwas ab- oder zerbricht

Corpus desk

Index DE-knack · knack · German

knack · rank #53,828 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,828
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH knurrt

Nearest frequency peer: knurrt (+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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „knack“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „knack“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for knack
PropertyValue
Headwordknack
LanguageGerman
Part of speechInterjection
IPA[knak]
Letters5
Frequency rank#53,828
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „knack“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).knackfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „knurrt“ (#53,829), „Klettersteig“ (#53,826), „Kleiderordnung“ (#53,825). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „knack“ bei #53,828. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

knack is uncommon German at frequency #53,828 among 4,158 “K” headwords, classed as aninterjection, transcribed [knak]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "bezeichnet das kurze Geräusch, wenn etwas ab- oder zerbricht".

knack doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is knack, spelled K-N-A-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    bezeichnet das kurze Geräusch, wenn etwas ab- oder zerbricht

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Das Geräusch ist klein und fies. Es kommt vom Knöchleinbrechen. Knack: ein Bein, knack: das zweite. Knack, knack – und auch die Flügelchen sind ab. Gräßlich. Aber ohne Schauder keine ausgelöste Wachtel, kein Hauptgericht, kein Lernerfolg.“
  2. „Wie ich ihn packte, er mit den Armen mich wegstoßen wollte, machte es knack und nochmals knack, in seiner Tasche. […] Er griff in seine Tasche, da zog er die Stücke heraus: seine schönen Tonpfeifen, zerbrochen.“

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "knack"?
"knack" is spelled K-N-A-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is [knak].
What does "knack" mean?
As an interjection, "knack" means: bezeichnet das kurze Geräusch, wenn etwas ab- oder zerbricht
How do you pronounce "knack"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "knack" is [knak]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "knack" come from?
"knack" 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 "knack", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list