knifflig

[ˈknɪflɪç]

/[ˈknɪflɪç]/ adj

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

The verdict

“knifflig” is uncommon German (frequency #56,272 among 4,158 “K” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,272
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - schwierig, viel Geduld und Phantasie erforderlich

Corpus desk

Index DE-knifflig · knifflig · German

knifflig · rank #56,272 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,272
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH Knesset

Nearest frequency peer: Knesset (-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 „knifflig“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for knifflig
PropertyValue
Headwordknifflig
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈknɪflɪç]
Letters8
Frequency rank#56,272
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „knifflig“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).kniffligfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Knesset“ (#56,271), „koala“ (#56,273), „knallharten“ (#56,270). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „knifflig“ bei #56,272. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

knifflig is uncommon German at frequency #56,272 among 4,158 “K” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ˈknɪflɪç]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for knifflig, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is knifflig, spelled K-N-I-F-F-L-I-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    schwierig, viel Geduld und Phantasie erforderlich
  2. 2
    heikel, viel Vorsicht und Fingerspitzengefühl erforderlich

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die ist ein kniffliges Rätsel.
  2. „Historische Kunstwerke zu reinigen, ist oftmals eine knifflige Aufgabe.“

Synonyms

schwierigkomplizierttrickreichheikelverzwicktdelikat

Antonyms

einfachsimpel

This word in other languages

fiddly(English)complicado(Español)épineux(Français)

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 "knifflig"?
"knifflig" is spelled K-N-I-F-F-L-I-G. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈknɪflɪç].
What does "knifflig" mean?
As an adjective, "knifflig" means: schwierig, viel Geduld und Phantasie erforderlich
How do you pronounce "knifflig"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "knifflig" is [ˈknɪflɪç]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "knifflig" come from?
"knifflig" 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 "knifflig", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

kognitiv#56,277Kohlrabi#56,279härteres#56,225hinterer#56,217

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list