schwafeln

[ˈʃvaːfl̩n]

/[ˈʃvaːfl̩n]/ verb

The verdict

“schwafeln” is uncommon German (frequency #93,563 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,563
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - wortreich, aber mit wenig Inhalt oder ohne Sachkenntnis etwas erzählen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schwafeln · schwafeln · German

schwafeln · rank #93,563 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #93,563
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Schwachmaten

Nearest frequency peer: Schwachmaten (-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 „schwafeln“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for schwafeln
PropertyValue
Headwordschwafeln
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃvaːfl̩n]
Letters9
Frequency rank#93,563
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „schwafeln“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.schwafelnfällt 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: „Schwachmaten“ (#93,562), „schwammige“ (#93,564), „Schusters“ (#93,561). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schwafeln“ bei #93,563. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

schwafeln is uncommon German at frequency #93,563 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʃvaːfl̩n]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "wortreich, aber mit wenig Inhalt oder ohne Sachkenntnis etwas erzählen".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for schwafeln, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is schwafeln, spelled S-C-H-W-A-F-E-L-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    wortreich, aber mit wenig Inhalt oder ohne Sachkenntnis etwas erzählen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Er schwafelte immer über die antiken griechischen Philosophen; dabei hatte er die nie gelesen.
  2. Schwafele nicht, sondern komm zum Punkt!

This word in other languages

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 "schwafeln"?
"schwafeln" is spelled S-C-H-W-A-F-E-L-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃvaːfl̩n].
What does "schwafeln" mean?
As a verb, "schwafeln" means: wortreich, aber mit wenig Inhalt oder ohne Sachkenntnis etwas erzählen
How do you pronounce "schwafeln"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schwafeln" is [ˈʃvaːfl̩n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schwafeln" come from?
"schwafeln" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "schwafeln", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list