Muffel

[ˈmʊfl̩]

/[ˈmʊfl̩]/ noun

The verdict

“Muffel” is uncommon German (frequency #71,639 among 3,571 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,639
frequency rank, German
3,571
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemand, der mürrisch, unfreundlich, ungesprächig, verdrießlich ist

Corpus desk

Index DE-muffel · Muffel · German

Muffel · rank #71,639 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,639
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,571
  • PHOTO-FINISH MRSA

Nearest frequency peer: MRSA (-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 „Muffel“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Muffel
PropertyValue
HeadwordMuffel
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈmʊfl̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#71,639
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Muffel“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „MRSA“ (#71,638), „Multiplikator“ (#71,640), „MPG“ (#71,637). Unter 3,571 „M“-Lemmata liegt „Muffel“ bei #71,639. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Muffel is uncommon German at frequency #71,639 among 3,571 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈmʊfl̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Muffel doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is Muffel, spelled M-U-F-F-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemand, der mürrisch, unfreundlich, ungesprächig, verdrießlich ist
  2. 2
    jemand, der etwas (aus Abneigung, Desinteresse, Gleichgültigkeit) gar nicht oder nur ungern tut
  3. 3
    (bei Wiederkäuern) Maul samt dem Bereich um die Nasenlöcher
  4. 4
    unbehaarter, eine Felderung aufweisender, durch die Schleimhaut gebildeter Bereich um die Nasenlöcher mancher Großsäuger

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „So wird der Vater gern als herrischer Muffel porträtiert, der mit dem Fuß das TV-Gerät einschaltet, breitbeinig davorsitzt und nach Bier brüllt.“
  2. „Er ist ewig unzufrieden, ein Muffel, Brausekopf und Tagträumer.“

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 "Muffel"?
"Muffel" is spelled M-U-F-F-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈmʊfl̩].
What does "Muffel" mean?
As a noun, "Muffel" means: jemand, der mürrisch, unfreundlich, ungesprächig, verdrießlich ist
How do you pronounce "Muffel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Muffel" is [ˈmʊfl̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Muffel" come from?
"Muffel" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "Muffel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list