Prügelknabe
German, noun/ˈpʁyːɡəlknaːbə/
Prügelknabe is spelled P-R-Ü-G-E-L-K-N-A-B-E (11 letters) and appears about once in every 9 million words in written German, the 159,136th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Prügelknabe is a German masculine noun meaning “whipping boy; (figurative) punching bag” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “ein Mensch, der (ungerechtfertigt) für Missstände oder Verfehlungen anderer verantwortlich gemacht wird”.
What does Prügelknabe mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinewhipping boy; (figurative) punching bag
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. ein Mensch, der (ungerechtfertigt) für Missstände oder Verfehlungen anderer verantwortlich gemacht wird
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Prügelknabe
- Prügelknaben genitive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Prügelknabe?
- /ˈpʁyːɡəlknaːbə/
- [ˈpʁyːɡl̩ˌknaːbə]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to Prügelknabe
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is Prügelknabe in German?
Prügelknabe appears about once in every 9 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).