nachäffen
German, verb
nachäffen is spelled N-A-C-H-Ä-F-F-E-N (9 letters) and appears about once in every 14 million words in written German, the 205,761st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Nachäffen is a German verb meaning “to ape, to mimic” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Nachäffen is a different word: “gerund of nachäffen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “jemanden oder etwas in übertriebener Weise nachahmen”.
What does nachäffen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to ape, to mimic
- 2
derogatoryto copycat, to imitate
noun
- 1
neutergerund of nachäffen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. jemanden oder etwas in übertriebener Weise nachahmen
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 nachäffen
- äfft nach present singular third-person
- äffte nach past
- nachgeäfft participle past
- haben auxiliary
- nachäffend participle present
- nachzuäffen infinitive infinitive-zu
- äffe nach first-person indicative present
- äffen nach first-person indicative plural
- äffst nach indicative present second-person
- äffest nach second-person singular subjunctive
- äffet nach plural second-person subjunctive
- äfften nach first-person indicative plural
- äfftest nach indicative preterite second-person
- äfftet nach indicative plural preterite
- äffe nach! imperative singular
- äfft nach! imperative plural
- nachgeäfft haben active infinitive perfect
- nachgeäfft werden processual-passive infinitive present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to nachäffen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is nachäffen in German?
nachäffen appears about once in every 14 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).