Scharmützel

[ˌʃaʁˈmʏt͡sl̩]

/[ˌʃaʁˈmʏt͡sl̩]/ noun

The verdict

“Scharmützel” is uncommon German (frequency #59,142 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,142
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein kleines Gefecht am Rande eines Krieges, oder Handgemenge

Corpus desk

Index DE-scharmutzel · Scharmützel · German

Scharmützel · rank #59,142 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,142
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schamlose

Nearest frequency peer: schamlose (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Scharmützel“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Scharmützel“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Scharmützel
PropertyValue
HeadwordScharmützel
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˌʃaʁˈmʏt͡sl̩]
Letters11
Frequency rank#59,142
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Scharmützel“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Scharmützelfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „schamlose“ (#59,141), „Schamgefühl“ (#59,140), „Scheichs“ (#59,144). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Scharmützel“ bei #59,142. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Scharmützel is uncommon German at frequency #59,142 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˌʃaʁˈmʏt͡sl̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Scharmützel, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Scharmützel, spelled S-C-H-A-R-M-Ü-T-Z-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    ein kleines Gefecht am Rande eines Krieges, oder Handgemenge
  2. 2
    Papiertüte

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jöns Månsson Teitt berichtet in seinen Erinnerungen an den Dreißigjährigen Krieg über ein Scharmützel, das am 17. Juni 1629 zwischen Marienwerder und Stuhm stattfand.
  2. „Die Offensive wurde nur wenig durch kleine Scharmützel im Hinterhalt verzögert; gelegentlich stieß man auch auf eine Verteidigungsstellung an einem Hohlweg oder quer zu einem Pfad.“

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

How do you spell "Scharmützel"?
"Scharmützel" is spelled S-C-H-A-R-M-Ü-T-Z-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌʃaʁˈmʏt͡sl̩].
What does "Scharmützel" mean?
As a noun, "Scharmützel" means: ein kleines Gefecht am Rande eines Krieges, oder Handgemenge
How do you pronounce "Scharmützel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Scharmützel" is [ˌʃaʁˈmʏt͡sl̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Scharmützel" come from?
"Scharmützel" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "Scharmützel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list