schweifen

/[ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]/ verb

Letters

9 characters

Frequency Rank

#32,259

in German word usage

Misspellings

14

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

schweifen is aGermanverb. It means: sich ohne festes Ziel in einem Bereich bewegen Pronounced [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]. Often confused with Schwein and schweren.

Key facts for schweifen
PropertyValue
Headwordschweifen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#32,259
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of schweifen in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for schweifen is 9 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #32,259 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for schweifen, with forms such as "cshweifen", "scchweifen", and "schewifen". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Schwein", "schweren", "Schweine", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is schweifen, spelled S-C-H-W-E-I-F-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    sich ohne festes Ziel in einem Bereich bewegen
  2. 2
    etwas biegen, in eine gebogene Form bringen

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cshweifen,scchweifen,schewifen,schhweifen,schwefien,schweiefn,schweifenn,schweiffen,schweifne,schwiefen,schwweifen,scwheifen,shcweifen,sschweifen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for schweifen

Misspelling Variants of "schweifen"

cshweifen9scchweifen10schewifen9schhweifen10schwefien9schweiefn9schweifenn10schweiffen10
Misspelling Variants of "schweifen"

Frequency rank: #32,259 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "schweifen"?
"schweifen" is spelled S-C-H-W-E-I-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩].
What does "schweifen" mean?
As a verb, "schweifen" means: sich ohne festes Ziel in einem Bereich bewegen
What words are commonly confused with "schweifen"?
"schweifen" is commonly confused with "Schwein", "schweren", "Schweine". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "schweifen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schweifen" is [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schweifen" come from?
"schweifen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.