plagen

[ˈplaːɡn̩]

/[ˈplaːɡn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“plagen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #24,074. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#24,074
frequency rank, German
3,409
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - sich großen Anstrengungen unterziehen

Corpus desk

Index DE-plagen · plagen · German

plagen · rank #24,074 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #24,074
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,409
  • PHOTO-FINISH plage

Nearest frequency peer: plage (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „plagen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „plagen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

plagen vs Plan
50% similar
plagen vs plane
67% similar
plagen vs plate
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for plagen
PropertyValue
Headwordplagen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈplaːɡn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#24,074
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „plagen“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).plagenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „plage“ (#24,073), „Pittsburgh“ (#24,072), „Polizeibeamten“ (#24,076). Unter 3,409 „P“-Lemmata liegt „plagen“ bei #24,074. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around plagen (IPA [ˈplaːɡn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #24,074 among 3,409 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for plagen, with forms such as "lpagen", "palgen", and "plaegn". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Plan", "plane", "plate", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is plagen, spelled P-L-A-G-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    sich großen Anstrengungen unterziehen
  2. 2
    Beschwerden verursachen, lästig werden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ich habe mich beim Holzhacken geplagt.
  2. Mein Gewissen plagt mich.

This word in other languages

plague(English)afligir(Español)afligir(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpagen
  • palgen
  • plaegn
  • plagenn
  • plaggen
  • plagne
  • plgaen
  • pllagen
  • pplagen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of plagen - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

lpagen2palgen2plaegn2plagenn1plaggen1plagne2plgaen2pllagen1
Edit distance from "plagen"

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 "plagen"?
"plagen" is spelled P-L-A-G-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈplaːɡn̩].
What does "plagen" mean?
As a verb, "plagen" means: sich großen Anstrengungen unterziehen
What words are commonly confused with "plagen"?
"plagen" is commonly confused with "Plan", "plane", "plate". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "plagen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plagen" is [ˈplaːɡn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "plagen" come from?
"plagen" 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 "plagen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Pathos#24,066Puffer#24,082Oregon#24,061rieche#24,097

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Mützen9 variantsschiebe9 variantsSergej9 variantsSharon9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list