schlichen

[ˈʃlɪçn̩]

/[ˈʃlɪçn̩]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“schlichen” is uncommon German (frequency #52,399 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,399
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schleichen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schlichen · schlichen · German

schlichen · rank #52,399 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,399
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Schleichwerbu…

Nearest frequency peer: Schleichwerbung (-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 „schlichen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for schlichen
PropertyValue
Headwordschlichen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃlɪçn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#52,399
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „schlichen“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.schlichenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Schleichwerbung“ (#52,398), „schmeichelhaft“ (#52,400), „Schlammschlacht“ (#52,397). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schlichen“ bei #52,399. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

schlichen is uncommon German at frequency #52,399 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʃlɪçn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for schlichen, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is schlichen, spelled S-C-H-L-I-C-H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schleichen
  2. 2
    1. Person Plural Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schleichen
  3. 3
    3. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schleichen
  4. 4
    3. Person Plural Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schleichen

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 "schlichen"?
"schlichen" is spelled S-C-H-L-I-C-H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃlɪçn̩].
What does "schlichen" mean?
As a verb, "schlichen" means: 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schleichen
How do you pronounce "schlichen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schlichen" is [ˈʃlɪçn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schlichen" come from?
"schlichen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "schlichen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

schwammen#52,404Rochester#52,378riskanten#52,377sonstigem#52,434

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list