schlechtreden
German, verb
schlechtreden is spelled S-C-H-L-E-C-H-T-R-E-D-E-N (13 letters) and appears about once in every 7 million words in written German, the 134,701st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schlechtreden is a German verb meaning “to disparage, to badmouth, to denigrate (to present something in a negative light, aiming to lower others' opinion of it)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Schlechtreden is a different word: “gerund of schlechtreden”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich negativ über etwas äußern (und es dadurch zum Schlechteren verändern)”.
What does schlechtreden mean in English?
verb
- 1
to disparage, to badmouth, to denigrate (to present something in a negative light, aiming to lower others' opinion of it)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of schlechtreden
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich negativ über etwas äußern (und es dadurch zum Schlechteren verändern)
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 schlechtreden
- redet schlecht present singular third-person
- redete schlecht past
- schlechtgeredet participle past
- haben auxiliary
- schlechtredend participle present
- schlechtzureden infinitive infinitive-zu
- rede schlecht first-person indicative present
- reden schlecht first-person indicative plural
- redest schlecht indicative present second-person
- redeten schlecht first-person indicative plural
- redetest schlecht indicative preterite second-person
- redetet schlecht indicative plural preterite
- schlecht reden alternative archaic
- red schlecht! imperative singular
- rede schlecht! imperative singular
- redet schlecht! imperative plural
- schlechtgeredet haben active infinitive perfect
- schlechtgeredet zu haben active extended infinitive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to schlechtreden
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is schlechtreden in German?
schlechtreden appears about once in every 7 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).