schwätzen

[ˈʃvɛt͡sn̩]

/[ˈʃvɛt͡sn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“schwätzen” is uncommon German (frequency #88,265 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#88,265
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - unkontrolliert, ungefragt oder unsachgemäß reden oder sprechen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schwatzen · schwätzen · German

schwätzen · rank #88,265 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #88,265
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schwierigem

Nearest frequency peer: schwierigem (-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 „schwätzen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for schwätzen
PropertyValue
Headwordschwätzen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃvɛt͡sn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#88,265
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „schwätzen“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „schwierigem“ (#88,264), „schwelgt“ (#88,263), „Schutzanzug“ (#88,261). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schwätzen“ bei #88,265. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

schwätzen is uncommon German at frequency #88,265 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʃvɛt͡sn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for schwätzen in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is schwätzen, spelled S-C-H-W-Ä-T-Z-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    unkontrolliert, ungefragt oder unsachgemäß reden oder sprechen
  2. 2
    sich zwanglos (über eher unwichtige Themen) unterhalten
  3. 3
    als Schüler während des Unterrichts unerwünschte Gespräche miteinander führen
  4. 4
    allgemein reden, sprechen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Mag Herr Remer auch noch soviel Unsinn schwätzen, in einem Punkt und darüber sollte man sich ganz klar sein – decken sich seine Ausführungen mit den Beobachtungen und Empfindungen vielleicht sogar der Mehrzahl des Volkes.“
  2. Wann hast Du denn Zeit, um mal wieder eine Runde zu schwätzen?

Synonyms

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 "schwätzen"?
"schwätzen" is spelled S-C-H-W-Ä-T-Z-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃvɛt͡sn̩].
What does "schwätzen" mean?
As a verb, "schwätzen" means: unkontrolliert, ungefragt oder unsachgemäß reden oder sprechen
How do you pronounce "schwätzen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schwätzen" is [ˈʃvɛt͡sn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schwätzen" come from?
"schwätzen" 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 "schwätzen", 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