kurzerhand
German, adverb/ˈkʊʁt͡sɐˌhant/
kurzerhand is spelled K-U-R-Z-E-R-H-A-N-D (10 letters) and appears 3.8 times per million words in written German, the 15,068th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Kurzerhand is a German adverb meaning “spontaneously, suddenly, on the spot (without much prior deliberation or preparation)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “ohne Umschweife, rasch, ohne groß darüber nachzudenken”.
What does kurzerhand mean in English?
adverb
- 1
spontaneously, suddenly, on the spot (without much prior deliberation or preparation)
Als ich an dem Laden vorbeigekommen bin, habe ich mich kurzerhand entschlossen, mich da einfach zu bewerben.
- 2
simply, without further ado (as an in-the-moment pragmatic solution to an issue to prevent a longer process)
Sie wusste nicht, welches Teil das richtige war, also hat sie kurzerhand beide mitgenommen.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. ohne Umschweife, rasch, ohne groß darüber nachzudenken
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of kurzerhand
- kurzer Hand alternative
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce kurzerhand?
- /ˈkʊʁt͡sɐˌhant/
- /ˌkʊʁt͡sɐˈhant/
- [ˈkʊʁt͡sɐˌhant]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to kurzerhand
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is kurzerhand in German?
kurzerhand appears 3.8 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).