schnaufen

[ˈʃnaʊ̯fn̩]

/[ˈʃnaʊ̯fn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“schnaufen” is uncommon German (frequency #60,047 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,047
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - nach Luft ringen, heftig keuchen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schnaufen · schnaufen · German

schnaufen · rank #60,047 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,047
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Schmerzmitteln

Nearest frequency peer: Schmerzmitteln (-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 „schnaufen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for schnaufen
PropertyValue
Headwordschnaufen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃnaʊ̯fn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#60,047
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „schnaufen“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Schmerzmitteln“ (#60,046), „schreibenden“ (#60,048), „Schleppern“ (#60,045). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schnaufen“ bei #60,047. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

schnaufen is uncommon German at frequency #60,047 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʃnaʊ̯fn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

schnaufen doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is schnaufen, spelled S-C-H-N-A-U-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    nach Luft ringen, heftig keuchen
  2. 2
    atmen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die überrittenen Gäule schnauften vor der Kutsche.
  2. Die Läufer überquerten schnaufend die Endzeile.

Synonyms

hechelnkeuchenatmen

Antonyms

ausatmenLuftholen

This word in other languages

wheeze(English)haleter(Français)

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 "schnaufen"?
"schnaufen" is spelled S-C-H-N-A-U-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃnaʊ̯fn̩].
What does "schnaufen" mean?
As a verb, "schnaufen" means: nach Luft ringen, heftig keuchen
How do you pronounce "schnaufen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schnaufen" is [ˈʃnaʊ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schnaufen" come from?
"schnaufen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "schnaufen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

schlagend#60,042schwächte#60,060Schäubles#60,061Seeräuber#60,066

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list