nuckeln

[ˈnʊkl̩n]

/[ˈnʊkl̩n]/ verb

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

The verdict

“nuckeln” is uncommon German (frequency #84,355 among 1,954 “N” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,355
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (an) etwas saugen, lutschen

Corpus desk

Index DE-nuckeln · nuckeln · German

nuckeln · rank #84,355 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,355
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH Nutzens

Nearest frequency peer: Nutzens (+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 „nuckeln“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for nuckeln
PropertyValue
Headwordnuckeln
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈnʊkl̩n]
Letters7
Frequency rank#84,355
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „nuckeln“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Nutzens“ (#84,356), „Nutzfahrzeug“ (#84,357), „nichtdeutschen“ (#84,351). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „nuckeln“ bei #84,355. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nuckeln is uncommon German at frequency #84,355 among 1,954 “N” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈnʊkl̩n]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "(an) etwas saugen, lutschen".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for nuckeln, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is nuckeln, spelled N-U-C-K-E-L-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    (an) etwas saugen, lutschen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Das kleine Mädchen nuckelte an ihrem Daumen.
  2. Linus konnte mit seiner Schmusedecke wirklich die unglaublichsten Dinge anstellen, aber jetzt nuckelte er zur Beruhigung seiner Nerven nur an ihr.

Synonyms

nubbeln

Antonyms

ausspucken

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 "nuckeln"?
"nuckeln" is spelled N-U-C-K-E-L-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈnʊkl̩n].
What does "nuckeln" mean?
As a verb, "nuckeln" means: (an) etwas saugen, lutschen
How do you pronounce "nuckeln"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nuckeln" is [ˈnʊkl̩n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nuckeln" come from?
"nuckeln" 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 "nuckeln", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Nutzens#84,356obvious#84,364octopus#84,367nativen#84,341

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list