pfiffen

[ˈp͡fɪfn̩]

/[ˈp͡fɪfn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“pfiffen” is uncommon German (frequency #81,977 among 3,409 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,977
frequency rank, German
3,409
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pfeifen

Corpus desk

Index DE-pfiffen · pfiffen · German

pfiffen · rank #81,977 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,977
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,409
  • PHOTO-FINISH Pflegeeinrich…

Nearest frequency peer: Pflegeeinrichtung (+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 “pfiffen”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “pfiffen” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for pfiffen
PropertyValue
Headwordpfiffen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈp͡fɪfn̩]
Letters7
Frequency rank#81,977
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “pfiffen” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).pfiffenliegt hier:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Pflegeeinrichtung“ (#81,978), „Pflegekinder“ (#81,979), „Perchtoldsdorf“ (#81,974). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pfiffen is uncommon German at frequency #81,977 among 3,409 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈp͡fɪfn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for pfiffen in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, 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 pfiffen, spelled P-F-I-F-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pfeifen
  2. 2
    3. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pfeifen
  3. 3
    1. Person Plural Konjunktiv Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pfeifen
  4. 4
    3. Person Plural Konjunktiv Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pfeifen

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 "pfiffen"?
"pfiffen" is spelled P-F-I-F-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈp͡fɪfn̩].
What does "pfiffen" mean?
As a verb, "pfiffen" means: 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs pfeifen
How do you pronounce "pfiffen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pfiffen" is [ˈp͡fɪfn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pfiffen" come from?
"pfiffen" 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 "pfiffen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Peptide#81,973Peeling#81,969Patsche#81,967Planern#81,987

What to do next

You've looked up "pfiffen". Here's where to go from here.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list