schrecken
German, verb
schrecken is spelled S-C-H-R-E-C-K-E-N (9 letters) and appears 11 times per million words in written German, the 6,647th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schrecken is a German verb meaning “to frighten, to scare” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Schrecken is a different word: “fright”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “abschrecken, einschüchtern”.
What does schrecken mean in English?
verb
- 1
to frighten, to scare
- 2
to intimidate or discourage, to deter
- 3
to bark (said of roe deer)
verb
- 1
to wake or become alert with a start or scare (as from sleep or from being deep in thought)
noun
- 1
masculinefright
- 2
masculineterror
noun
- 1
plural of Schrecke
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. durch ein unerwartetes, schreckliches Ereignis ausgelöstes Entsetzen 2. schreckliche Eigenschaft, schreckliche Seite von etwas 3. jemand, der Angst und Schrecken^([1]) verbreitet
verb: 1. abschrecken, einschüchtern 2. unsanft wecken, aufscheuchen
verb: 1. auffahren, hochschrecken
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 schrecken
- Schreckens genitive
- schreckt present singular third-person
- schreckte past
- geschreckt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- schreckend participle present
- schrecke first-person indicative present
- schreckst indicative present second-person
- schreckest second-person singular subjunctive
- schrecket plural second-person subjunctive
- schreckten first-person indicative plural
- schrecktest indicative preterite second-person
- schrecktet indicative plural preterite
- schreck imperative second-person singular
- schrecke! imperative singular
- schreck! imperative singular
- schreckt! imperative plural
- geschreckt haben regular active infinitive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to schrecken
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is schrecken in German?
schrecken appears 11 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).