Schwank

[ʃvaŋk]

/[ʃvaŋk]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Schwank” is uncommon German (frequency #52,405 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,405
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - meist witzige kurze Erzählung über eher triviales Thema (oft über einen Streich)

Corpus desk

Index DE-schwank · Schwank · German

Schwank · rank #52,405 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,405
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schwammen

Nearest frequency peer: schwammen (-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 „Schwank“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Schwank
PropertyValue
HeadwordSchwank
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʃvaŋk]
Letters7
Frequency rank#52,405
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Schwank“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „schwammen“ (#52,404), „schreiende“ (#52,403), „Schwedin“ (#52,407). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Schwank“ bei #52,405. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Schwank is uncommon German at frequency #52,405 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ʃvaŋk]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Schwank, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

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 Schwank, spelled S-C-H-W-A-N-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    meist witzige kurze Erzählung über eher triviales Thema (oft über einen Streich)
  2. 2
    meist witziges Theaterstück über eher triviales Thema

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Thomas hat gestern einen Schwank nach dem anderen erzählt. Wir haben uns köstlich amüsiert.
  2. „Zum älteren Schwank gehört fast immer ein didaktisches Moment; der Schwank ist also nicht nur einfach bloße Unterhaltung.“

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 "Schwank"?
"Schwank" is spelled S-C-H-W-A-N-K. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃvaŋk].
What does "Schwank" mean?
As a noun, "Schwank" means: meist witzige kurze Erzählung über eher triviales Thema (oft über einen Streich)
How do you pronounce "Schwank"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Schwank" is [ʃvaŋk]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Schwank" come from?
"Schwank" 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 "Schwank", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

schweig#52,408screens#52,415Spindel#52,446Ravioli#52,358

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list