schwer
German, adjective/ʃveːr/
schwer is spelled S-C-H-W-E-R (6 letters) and appears 195 times per million words in written German, the 443rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schwer is a German adjective meaning “heavy, weighty” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “ein hohes Gewicht habend”.
What does schwer mean in English?
adjective
- 1
heavy, weighty
- 2
indigestible
- 3
grave, severe, intense, serious, heavy
schwerer Regen
- 4
heavy (doing the specified activity more intensely)
ein schwerer Raucher
- 5
clumsy, sluggish
- 6
difficult, hard
eine schwere Aufgabe
- 7
very, much
schwer verliebt
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. ein hohes Gewicht habend 2. Eigenschaft von etwas, das nur mit großem Wissen, großen Fähigkeiten ausgeführt werden kann 3. von großen Mühen und Entbehrungen gekennzeichnet 4. stark ausgeprägt
particle: 1. redensartlich für sehr
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of schwer
- schwerer masculine nominative singular
- am schwersten superlative
- schwere feminine nominative singular
- schweres neuter nominative singular
- schweren genitive masculine singular
- schwerem dative masculine singular
- der schwere definite includes-article masculine
- die schwere definite feminine includes-article
- das schwere definite includes-article neuter
- die schweren definite includes-article nominative
- des schweren definite genitive includes-article
- der schweren definite feminine genitive
- dem schweren dative definite includes-article
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce schwer?
- /ʃveːr/
- [ʃveːɐ̯]
- [ʃvɛɐ̯]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to schwer
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is schwer in German?
schwer appears 195 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).