pfeifen
[ˈp͡faɪ̯fn̩]
The verdict
“pfeifen” has 10 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #11,305. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,305
- frequency rank, German
- 3,409
- “P” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein auffälliges Geräusch durch schnellen Luftzug durch eine kleine Öffnung natürlich (bei Menschen durch die angespitzten, geformten Lippen) oder künstlich erzeugen
Corpus desk
Index DE-pfeifen · pfeifen · German
pfeifen · rank #11,305 · 10 variants · 11 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,305
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,409
- PHOTO-FINISH Penny
Nearest frequency peer: Penny (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “pfeifen”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- passage
passage
88,699 corpus weight
- Penny
Penny
88,697 corpus weight
- pfeifen
pfeifen
88,696 corpus weight
- Philosoph
Philosoph
88,695 corpus weight
- platzen
platzen
88,694 corpus weight
- populär
populär
88,693 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “pfeifen” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | pfeifen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈp͡faɪ̯fn̩] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #11,305 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Wo “pfeifen” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around pfeifen (IPA [ˈp͡faɪ̯fn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #11,305 among 3,409 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for pfeifen, with forms such as "fpeifen", "pefifen", and "pfefien". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "pfeift", "Pfeile", "preisen", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is pfeifen, spelled P-F-E-I-F-E-N.
Definition
- 1ein auffälliges Geräusch durch schnellen Luftzug durch eine kleine Öffnung natürlich (bei Menschen durch die angespitzten, geformten Lippen) oder künstlich erzeugen
- 2auf etwas; sich für etwas nicht interessieren; etwas oder jemanden ignorieren
- 3als Schiedsrichter in einem Spiel agieren
- 4etwas oder jemanden verpfeifen (sehr viel häufiger), verraten, etwas ausplaudern
- 5sich nichts pfeifen, sich nicht um etwas pfeifen: sich nicht scheren
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pfeifen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Der Kessel pfeift.
Um die anderen zu warnen, pfiff er zweimal.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- fpeifen
- pefifen
- pfefien
- pfeiefn
- pfeifenn
- pfeiffen
- pfeifne
- pffeifen
- pfiefen
- ppfeifen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pfeifen - 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 "pfeifen"?
What does "pfeifen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "pfeifen"?
How do you pronounce "pfeifen"?
What language does "pfeifen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pfeifen", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "pfeifen". Here's where to go from here.
- "pfeifen" maps to 11 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pfeift". View pair
- 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #11,305 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more German words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.