schwanken
[ˈʃvaŋkn̩]
The verdict
“schwanken” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #18,055 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #18,055
- frequency rank, German
- 9
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - sich nicht entscheiden können; sich mal so, mal so äußern oder verhalten
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | schwanken |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈʃvaŋkn̩] |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #18,055 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “schwanken” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for schwanken is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈʃvaŋkn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #18,055 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for schwanken, with forms such as "cshwanken", "scchwanken", and "schawnken". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "schwänze", "schwankt", "schwingen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is schwanken, spelled S-C-H-W-A-N-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1sich nicht entscheiden können; sich mal so, mal so äußern oder verhalten
- 2unsicher stehen und gehen; den Schwerpunkt hin und her verlagern, dabei oftmals mit dem Oberkörper pendeln
- 3sich ständig verändern
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cshwanken,scchwanken,schawnken,schhwanken,schwaknen,schwanekn,schwankenn,schwankken,schwankne,schwannken,schwnaken,schwwanken,scwhanken,shcwanken,sschwanken
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of schwanken - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "schwanken"?
What does "schwanken" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "schwanken"?
How do you pronounce "schwanken"?
What language does "schwanken" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “schwanken”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-C-H-W-A-N-K-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈʃvaŋkn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “schwänze” - see the side-by-side comparison. schwanken vs schwänze
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.