scharf

/[ʃaʁf]/ adj

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#3,070

in German word usage

Misspellings

10

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

scharf is anGermanadj. It means: fähig, etwas zu (zer)schneiden oder zu stechen Pronounced [ʃaʁf]. It ranks #3,070 in German word frequency. Often confused with Schau and schuf.

Key facts for scharf
PropertyValue
Headwordscharf
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdj
IPA[ʃaʁf]
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,070
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of scharf in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for scharf is 6 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ʃaʁf]. Corpus data places it at rank #3,070 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for scharf, with forms such as "csharf", "scahrf", and "sccharf". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Schau", "schuf", "share", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is scharf, spelled S-C-H-A-R-F, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    fähig, etwas zu (zer)schneiden oder zu stechen
  2. 2
    spitz, mit spitzem Winkel
  3. 3
    sehr eng, mit starker Beugung/Richtungsänderung
  4. 4
    deutlich konturiert, mit klarem Umriss
  5. 5
    fähig, auf der Zunge ein schmerzhaftes Brennen auszulösen
  6. 6
    in der Nase beißend
  7. 7
    grell
  8. 8
    schrill, in unangenehmer Lautstärke
  9. 9
    zur Bezeichnung kalter, rauer Witterung
  10. 10
    reizend, (sexuell) attraktiv, begehrenswert, sehr anziehend
  11. 11
    mit besonderer Aufmerksamkeit; fähig dazu, schnell etwas nicht offensichtliches zu erkennen; findig
  12. 12
    keine Attrappe seiend oder aktiviert worden seiend
  13. 13
    sehr hart und offensiv
  14. 14
    abgerichtet, aggressiv
  15. 15
    von zerstörender, ätzender Wirkung
  16. 16
    von hoher Intensität (Schnelligkeit, Kraft, Energie)
  17. 17
    erhöhte Geräuschintensität stimmloser im Vergleich zu stimmhaften Phonemen

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: csharf,scahrf,sccharf,schafr,scharff,scharrf,schharf,schraf,shcarf,sscharf

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for scharf

Misspelling Variants of "scharf"

csharf6scahrf6sccharf7schafr6scharff7scharrf7schharf7schraf6
Misspelling Variants of "scharf"

Frequency rank: #3,070 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "scharf"?
"scharf" is spelled S-C-H-A-R-F. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃaʁf].
What does "scharf" mean?
As an adj, "scharf" means: fähig, etwas zu (zer)schneiden oder zu stechen
What words are commonly confused with "scharf"?
"scharf" is commonly confused with "Schau", "schuf", "share". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "scharf"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "scharf" is [ʃaʁf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "scharf" come from?
"scharf" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.