proper
[ˈpʁɔpɐ]
The verdict
“proper” is an uncommon German word, ranked #56,441 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #56,441
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - in gutem, gepflegten Zustand befindlich, dem Betrachter gefallend
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | proper |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈpʁɔpɐ] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #56,441 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “proper” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for proper is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈpʁɔpɐ]. Corpus data places it at rank #56,441 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "in gutem, gepflegten Zustand befindlich, dem Betrachter gefallend".
proper has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, 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 proper, spelled P-R-O-P-E-R.
Definition
- 1in gutem, gepflegten Zustand befindlich, dem Betrachter gefallend
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Using “proper”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is P-R-O-P-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈpʁɔpɐ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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.