oberflächlich
[ˈoːbɐˌflɛçlɪç]
The verdict
“oberflächlich” has 21 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #12,554. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #12,554
- frequency rank, German
- 14,908
- “O” headwords
- 21
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - die Oberfläche eines Gegenstandes oder einer Sache betreffend, sich auf die Oberfläche beziehend
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | oberflächlich |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈoːbɐˌflɛçlɪç] |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #12,554 |
| Misspellings tracked | 21 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oberflächlich” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 21 spelling variants around oberflächlich (IPA [ˈoːbɐˌflɛçlɪç]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #12,554 among 14,908 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 21 likely wrong-spelling variants for oberflächlich, with forms such as "boerflächlich", "obberflächlich", and "obefrlächlich". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "oberflächliche", "oberflächlichen", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is oberflächlich, spelled O-B-E-R-F-L-Ä-C-H-L-I-C-H.
Definition
- 1die Oberfläche eines Gegenstandes oder einer Sache betreffend, sich auf die Oberfläche beziehend
- 2nicht gründlich oder auch nicht gründlich genug, nur das Äußere beachtend
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: boerflächlich,obberflächlich,obefrlächlich,oberfflächlich,oberflcählich,oberfllächlich,oberfläcchlich,oberflächhlich,oberflächilch,oberflächlcih,oberflächlicch,oberflächlichh,oberflächlihc,oberflächllich,oberfläclhich,oberflähclich,oberfälchlich,oberlfächlich,oberrflächlich,obreflächlich,oebrflächlich
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of oberflächlich - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "oberflächlich"?
What does "oberflächlich" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "oberflächlich"?
How do you pronounce "oberflächlich"?
What language does "oberflächlich" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “oberflächlich”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is O-B-E-R-F-L-Ä-C-H-L-I-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈoːbɐˌflɛçlɪç] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “oberflächliche” - see the side-by-side comparison. oberflächlich vs oberflächliche
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Same frequency band
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.