naughty

[ˈnɔːti]

/[ˈnɔːti]/ adj

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

The verdict

“naughty” is uncommon German (frequency #80,723 among 1,954 “N” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#80,723
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - unartig, ungezogen, ungehörig, frech: zum schlechten Benehmen oder schlechten Handlungen geneigt sein

Corpus desk

Index DE-naughty · naughty · German

naughty · rank #80,723 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #80,723
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH Nebeneffekte

Nearest frequency peer: Nebeneffekte (+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 „naughty“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for naughty
PropertyValue
Headwordnaughty
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈnɔːti]
Letters7
Frequency rank#80,723
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „naughty“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).naughtyfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Nebeneffekte“ (#80,724), „Nasenloch“ (#80,721), „Nebentisch“ (#80,725). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „naughty“ bei #80,723. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

naughty is uncommon German at frequency #80,723 among 1,954 “N” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ˈnɔːti]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for naughty, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is naughty, spelled N-A-U-G-H-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    unartig, ungezogen, ungehörig, frech: zum schlechten Benehmen oder schlechten Handlungen geneigt sein
  2. 2
    in zumeist milder Form sexuell anregende Verhaltensweise nach Art von [1]; unanständig

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. That naughty dog dug up Mrs. Duffy's petunias.

Synonyms

bad

This word in other languages

sucio(Español)malin(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 "naughty"?
"naughty" is spelled N-A-U-G-H-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈnɔːti].
What does "naughty" mean?
As an adjective, "naughty" means: unartig, ungezogen, ungehörig, frech: zum schlechten Benehmen oder schlechten Handlungen geneigt sein
How do you pronounce "naughty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "naughty" is [ˈnɔːti]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "naughty" come from?
"naughty" 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 "naughty", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Nabucco#80,710noodles#80,744Mumpitz#80,701Motoröl#80,697

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list