nachlaufen

[ˈnaːxˌlaʊ̯fn̩]

/[ˈnaːxˌlaʊ̯fn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“nachlaufen” is uncommon German (frequency #70,604 among 1,954 “N” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,604
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemandem oder etwas, der/das sich entfernt, hinterherlaufen

Corpus desk

Index DE-nachlaufen · nachlaufen · German

nachlaufen · rank #70,604 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,604
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH Nachhilfelehr…

Nearest frequency peer: Nachhilfelehrer (-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 „nachlaufen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for nachlaufen
PropertyValue
Headwordnachlaufen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈnaːxˌlaʊ̯fn̩]
Letters10
Frequency rank#70,604
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „nachlaufen“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.nachlaufenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Nachhilfelehrer“ (#70,603), „nachzuschauen“ (#70,605), „nachgespielt“ (#70,602). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „nachlaufen“ bei #70,604. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nachlaufen is uncommon German at frequency #70,604 among 1,954 “N” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈnaːxˌlaʊ̯fn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for nachlaufen in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is nachlaufen, spelled N-A-C-H-L-A-U-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemandem oder etwas, der/das sich entfernt, hinterherlaufen
  2. 2
    sich sehr um jemanden bemühen
  3. 3
    viel Zeit investieren, um etwas erledigt zu bekommen; sich mehrfach bemühen
  4. 4
    nicht korrekt in der Zeit sein, sondern zu langsam gehen
  5. 5
    (mehr Flüssigkeit) zulaufen lassen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Der Hund läuft seinem Frauchen nach.
  2. Bilde dir ja nicht ein, dass ich dir nachlaufe!

This word in other languages

poursuivre(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 "nachlaufen"?
"nachlaufen" is spelled N-A-C-H-L-A-U-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈnaːxˌlaʊ̯fn̩].
What does "nachlaufen" mean?
As a verb, "nachlaufen" means: jemandem oder etwas, der/das sich entfernt, hinterherlaufen
How do you pronounce "nachlaufen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nachlaufen" is [ˈnaːxˌlaʊ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nachlaufen" come from?
"nachlaufen" 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 "nachlaufen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

narrativen#70,610Nettigkeit#70,614Notausgang#70,628mitbekomme#70,577

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list