schanghaien
[ˌʃaŋˈhaɪ̯ən]
The verdict
“schanghaien” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - jemanden durch List und Täuschung – zumeist indem dieser mit Alkohol berauscht wird – zum Matrosendienst auf einem Schiff anwerben und diesen (mit Gewalt) einschiffen
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | schanghaien |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˌʃaŋˈhaɪ̯ən] |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “schanghaien” sits in German frequency
Rare enough to double-check
schanghaien is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [ˌʃaŋˈhaɪ̯ən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
schanghaien doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is schanghaien, spelled S-C-H-A-N-G-H-A-I-E-N.
Definition
- 1jemanden durch List und Täuschung – zumeist indem dieser mit Alkohol berauscht wird – zum Matrosendienst auf einem Schiff anwerben und diesen (mit Gewalt) einschiffen
- 2jemandem etwas versprechen, das man jedoch nicht einhält; jemanden überreden, durch heftiges Zureden umstimmen, zumeist indem man die Person betrunken macht
- 3jemanden auf seine Militärdiensttauglichkeit hin untersuchen
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “schanghaien”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-C-H-A-N-G-H-A-I-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˌʃaŋˈhaɪ̯ən] (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.