Pleonasmus

[pleoˈnasmʊs]

/[pleoˈnasmʊs]/ noun

The verdict

“Pleonasmus” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Verbindung bedeutungsgleicher oder -verwandter Ausdrücke (aber im Gegensatz zur Tautologie verschiedener Wortart) in einer Wortgruppe

Corpus desk

Index DE-pleonasmus · Pleonasmus · German

Pleonasmus · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for Pleonasmus
PropertyValue
HeadwordPleonasmus
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[pleoˈnasmʊs]
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Pleonasmus“ im Deutschen

Pleonasmusschafft es nicht in die Top 100.000 des Deutschen: Zone für Fach-, Alt- oder Seltenwortschatz.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Pleonasmus is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [pleoˈnasmʊs]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Verbindung bedeutungsgleicher oder -verwandter Ausdrücke (aber im Gegensatz zur Tautologie verschiedener Wortart) in einer Wortgruppe".

Pleonasmus doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Pleonasmus, spelled P-L-E-O-N-A-S-M-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Verbindung bedeutungsgleicher oder -verwandter Ausdrücke (aber im Gegensatz zur Tautologie verschiedener Wortart) in einer Wortgruppe

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Weißer Schimmel“ und „alter Greis“ werden von Wilpert als Beispiele für Pleonasmen angegeben.
  2. „Weißer Schimmel“ und „alter Greis“ sind Beispiele für Pleonasmen, da ein Schimmel immer schon weiß und ein Greis immer schon alt ist.

Synonyms

Doppelausdruck

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Pleonasmus"?
"Pleonasmus" is spelled P-L-E-O-N-A-S-M-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is [pleoˈnasmʊs].
What does "Pleonasmus" mean?
As a noun, "Pleonasmus" means: Verbindung bedeutungsgleicher oder -verwandter Ausdrücke (aber im Gegensatz zur Tautologie verschiedener Wortart) in einer Wortgruppe
How do you pronounce "Pleonasmus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Pleonasmus" is [pleoˈnasmʊs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Pleonasmus" come from?
"Pleonasmus" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list