lebender Briefkasten

[ˌleːbn̩dɐ ˈbʁiːfˌkastn̩]

/[ˌleːbn̩dɐ ˈbʁiːfˌkastn̩]/ phrase

The verdict

“lebender Briefkasten” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as a phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
20
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — sondersprachlich (Jargon etlicher Geheim- und Nachrichtendienste); eine oder mehrere „wohnhafte Personen […], die ohne Kenntnis des tatsächlichen Charakters dieser Tätigkeit von Geheimdienstmitarbe...

Key facts for lebender Briefkasten
PropertyValue
Headwordlebender Briefkasten
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[ˌleːbn̩dɐ ˈbʁiːfˌkastn̩]
Letters20
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “lebender Briefkasten” sits in German frequency

lebender Briefkasten falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for lebender Briefkasten is 20 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˌleːbn̩dɐ ˈbʁiːfˌkastn̩]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "sondersprachlich (Jargon etlicher Geheim- und Nachrichtendienste); eine oder mehrere „wohnhafte Personen […], die ohne Kenntnis des tatsächlichen Charakters dieser Tätigkeit von Geheimdienstmitarbe...".

No misspelling variants are generated for lebender Briefkasten in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

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 lebender Briefkasten, spelled L-E-B-E-N-D-E-R- -B-R-I-E-F-K-A-S-T-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    sondersprachlich (Jargon etlicher Geheim- und Nachrichtendienste); eine oder mehrere „wohnhafte Personen […], die ohne Kenntnis des tatsächlichen Charakters dieser Tätigkeit von Geheimdienstmitarbeitern und Agenten zur zeitweiligen Aufbewahrung von Nachrichten oder Gegenständen mißbraucht w[e]rden“; eine oder mehrere Personen, die zeitweilig (zumeist unwissentlich) als Übermittler von Nachrichten oder Gegenständen zwischen einem Geheim- oder Nachrichtendienst und seinen Agenten fungieren

Antonyms

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “lebender Briefkasten, German word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/de/wort/lebender-briefkasten

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lebender Briefkasten"?
"lebender Briefkasten" is spelled L-E-B-E-N-D-E-R- -B-R-I-E-F-K-A-S-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌleːbn̩dɐ ˈbʁiːfˌkastn̩].
What does "lebender Briefkasten" mean?
As a phrase, "lebender Briefkasten" means: sondersprachlich (Jargon etlicher Geheim- und Nachrichtendienste); eine oder mehrere „wohnhafte Personen […], die ohne Kenntnis des tatsächlichen Charakters dieser Tätigkeit von Geheimdienstmitarbe...
How do you pronounce "lebender Briefkasten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lebender Briefkasten" is [ˌleːbn̩dɐ ˈbʁiːfˌkastn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lebender Briefkasten" come from?
"lebender Briefkasten" 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.

Using “lebender Briefkasten”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is L-E-B-E-N-D-E-R- -B-R-I-E-F-K-A-S-T-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˌleːbn̩dɐ ˈbʁiːfˌkastn̩] (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

Nearby German words

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

Explore PlainSpell

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list