poltern

[ˈpɔltɐn]

/[ˈpɔltɐn]/ verb

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

The verdict

“poltern” is uncommon German (frequency #57,310 among 3,409 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,310
frequency rank, German
3,409
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - durch Rumpeln oder durch Stoßen gegen etwas zu lärmen (lauter als klappern, leiser als donnern)

Corpus desk

Index DE-poltern · poltern · German

poltern · rank #57,310 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,310
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,409
  • PHOTO-FINISH Polonaise

Nearest frequency peer: Polonaise (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „poltern“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „poltern“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for poltern
PropertyValue
Headwordpoltern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈpɔltɐn]
Letters7
Frequency rank#57,310
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „poltern“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).polternfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Polonaise“ (#57,309), „Pornofilm“ (#57,312), „Plymouth“ (#57,307). Unter 3,409 „P“-Lemmata liegt „poltern“ bei #57,310. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

poltern is uncommon German at frequency #57,310 among 3,409 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈpɔltɐn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for poltern, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is poltern, spelled P-O-L-T-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    durch Rumpeln oder durch Stoßen gegen etwas zu lärmen (lauter als klappern, leiser als donnern)
  2. 2
    grob schimpfen
  3. 3
    Polterabend feiern

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Der Marder polterte im Dachboden ganz schön herum.
  2. Es polterte im ganzen Haus, als der Stapel Kisten umfiel.

Antonyms

schleichenloben

This word in other languages

jangle(English)bruiter(Français)

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 "poltern"?
"poltern" is spelled P-O-L-T-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈpɔltɐn].
What does "poltern" mean?
As a verb, "poltern" means: durch Rumpeln oder durch Stoßen gegen etwas zu lärmen (lauter als klappern, leiser als donnern)
How do you pronounce "poltern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poltern" is [ˈpɔltɐn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "poltern" come from?
"poltern" 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 "poltern", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Pitcher#57,301Parkour#57,294Oregano#57,284Rektors#57,354

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list