putzen
German, verb
putzen is spelled P-U-T-Z-E-N (6 letters) and appears 9.8 times per million words in written German, the 7,170th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Putzen is a German verb meaning “to clean, especially by rubbing with something wet, to brush (one's teeth)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Putzen is a different word: “gerund of putzen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas von Schmutz befreien mit Bürste oder Lappen”.
What does putzen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to clean, especially by rubbing with something wet, to brush (one's teeth)
Ich putze mir die Zähne.
- 2
to groom oneself
- 3
datedto beautify oneself by washing, styling, and putting on fancy clothes
- 4
to plaster
noun
- 1
neutergerund of putzen
noun
- 1
feminineplural of Putze
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas von Schmutz befreien mit Bürste oder Lappen 2. eine Deckschicht (Mörtel, Putz) auf Mauerwerk bringen 3. etwas schön machen
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 putzen
- putzt present singular third-person
- putzte past
- geputzt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- putzend participle present
- putze first-person indicative present
- putzest second-person singular subjunctive
- putzet plural second-person subjunctive
- putzten first-person indicative plural
- putztest indicative preterite second-person
- putztet indicative plural preterite
- putz imperative second-person singular
- habe geputzt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben geputzt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- putz! imperative singular
- putze! imperative singular
- putzt! imperative plural
- geputzt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to putzen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is putzen in German?
putzen appears 9.8 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).