Scharfsinn
[ˈʃaʁfˌzɪn]
The verdict
“Scharfsinn” is an uncommon German word, ranked #71,802 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #71,802
- frequency rank, German
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Fähigkeit, das Wesentliche an einer Sache im Kern zu erkennen; scharfer Verstand
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Scharfsinn |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈʃaʁfˌzɪn] |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #71,802 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Scharfsinn” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Scharfsinn is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈʃaʁfˌzɪn]. Corpus data places it at rank #71,802 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Fähigkeit, das Wesentliche an einer Sache im Kern zu erkennen; scharfer Verstand".
Scharfsinn doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Scharfsinn, spelled S-C-H-A-R-F-S-I-N-N.
Definition
- 1Fähigkeit, das Wesentliche an einer Sache im Kern zu erkennen; scharfer Verstand
Synonyms
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); 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
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Using “Scharfsinn”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-C-H-A-R-F-S-I-N-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈʃaʁfˌzɪn] (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.