radikal

[ʁadiˈkaːl]

/[ʁadiˈkaːl]/ adj

The verdict

“radikal” has 10 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #9,074. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,074
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - im Denken und oder Handeln in besonderem Maße von der Norm abweichend

Corpus desk

Index DE-radikal · radikal · German

radikal · rank #9,074 · 10 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,074
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH Premierminist…

Nearest frequency peer: Premierminister (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “radikal”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “radikal” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

radikal vs Radikale
75% similar
radikal vs Radikalen
67% similar
radikal vs radikaler
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for radikal
PropertyValue
Headwordradikal
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ʁadiˈkaːl]
Letters7
Frequency rank#9,074
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “radikal” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).radikalliegt hier:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Premierminister“ (#9,073), „Rates“ (#9,075), „plane“ (#9,072). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around radikal (IPA [ʁadiˈkaːl]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #9,074 among 2,984 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for radikal, with forms such as "ardikal", "raddikal", and "radiakl". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Radikale", "Radikalen", "radikaler", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is radikal, spelled R-A-D-I-K-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    im Denken und oder Handeln in besonderem Maße von der Norm abweichend
  2. 2
    in besonders hervorstechendem Maße
  3. 3
    eine Bestrebung bezeichnend, die Gesellschaft umfassend (an der Wurzel) zu verändern

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Manche Menschen denken radikal, besonders dann, wenn sie zu einem Thema persönliche Erfahrungen gesammelt haben.
  2. Die Verkaufspreise der Produkte wurden radikal gesenkt.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ardikal
  • raddikal
  • radiakl
  • radikall
  • radikkal
  • radikla
  • radkial
  • raidkal
  • rdaikal
  • rradikal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of radikal - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ardikal2raddikal1radiakl2radikall1radikkal1radikla2radkial2raidkal2
Edit distance from "radikal"

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 "radikal"?
"radikal" is spelled R-A-D-I-K-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ʁadiˈkaːl].
What does "radikal" mean?
As an adjective, "radikal" means: im Denken und oder Handeln in besonderem Maße von der Norm abweichend
What words are commonly confused with "radikal"?
"radikal" is commonly confused with "Radikale", "Radikalen", "radikaler". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "radikal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "radikal" is [ʁadiˈkaːl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "radikal" come from?
"radikal" 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 "radikal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "radikal". Here's where to go from here.

  • "radikal" maps to 4 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Radikale". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #9,074 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "R" letter cohort. R–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list