necken

[ˈnɛkn̩]

/[ˈnɛkn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“necken” is uncommon German (frequency #59,926 among 1,954 “N” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,926
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemanden auf eine milde Art ein wenig reizen, beziehungsweise jemanden freundschaftlich „ärgern“

Corpus desk

Index DE-necken · necken · German

necken · rank #59,926 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,926
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH neoliberal

Nearest frequency peer: neoliberal (+2 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 „necken“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for necken
PropertyValue
Headwordnecken
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈnɛkn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#59,926
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „necken“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „neoliberal“ (#59,928), „niederdeutsche“ (#59,929), „Naturell“ (#59,922). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „necken“ bei #59,926. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

necken is uncommon German at frequency #59,926 among 1,954 “N” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈnɛkn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "jemanden auf eine milde Art ein wenig reizen, beziehungsweise jemanden freundschaftlich „ärgern“".

Zero misspellings are on record for necken in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is necken, spelled N-E-C-K-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemanden auf eine milde Art ein wenig reizen, beziehungsweise jemanden freundschaftlich „ärgern“

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ich habe dich doch nur ein bisschen geneckt.
  2. „Die Frauen neckte er wie ein Vater, ohne jede Spur jener hässlichen, schmierigen Anzüglichkeit, die ich so gut aus anderen Kirchen kannte, und sie reagierten entsprechend mit großer Unbefangenheit und doch großer, liebevoller Distanz.“

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 "necken"?
"necken" is spelled N-E-C-K-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈnɛkn̩].
What does "necken" mean?
As a verb, "necken" means: jemanden auf eine milde Art ein wenig reizen, beziehungsweise jemanden freundschaftlich „ärgern“
How do you pronounce "necken"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "necken" is [ˈnɛkn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "necken" come from?
"necken" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "necken", 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