schimpfen
German, verb
schimpfen is spelled S-C-H-I-M-P-F-E-N (9 letters) and appears 3.0 times per million words in written German, the 18,198th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schimpfen is a German verb meaning “to tell off, to scold, to yell at” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Schimpfen is a different word: “gerund of schimpfen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “(einer anderen Person) seinen Ärger kundtun”.
What does schimpfen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to tell off, to scold, to yell at
- 2
to complain, to grouse, to bitch, to curse
- 3
to call
- 4
to call oneself
Er hat keine Ahnung von der Materie - und so jemand schimpft sich Experte!
noun
- 1
neutergerund of schimpfen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. (einer anderen Person) seinen Ärger kundtun 2. mit aggressiven oder beleidigenden Worten tadeln 3. jemanden, sich oder etwas auf eine bestimmte Weise benennen
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of schimpfen
- schimpft present singular third-person
- schimpfte past
- geschimpft participle past
- haben auxiliary
- schimpfend participle present
- schimpfe first-person indicative present
- schimpfst indicative present second-person
- schimpfest second-person singular subjunctive
- schimpfet plural second-person subjunctive
- schimpften first-person indicative plural
- schimpftest indicative preterite second-person
- schimpftet indicative plural preterite
- schimpf imperative second-person singular
- habe geschimpft first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben geschimpft first-person indicative multiword-construction
- schimpf! imperative singular
- schimpft! imperative plural
- geschimpft haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to schimpfen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is schimpfen in German?
schimpfen appears 3.0 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).