schwerfällig
German, adjective/ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌfɛlɪç/
schwerfällig is spelled S-C-H-W-E-R-F-Ä-L-L-I-G (12 letters) and appears about once in every 2 million words in written German, the 54,418th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schwerfällig is a German adjective meaning “sluggish, clumsy, unwieldy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “langsam, ohne Leichtigkeit”.
What does schwerfällig mean in English?
adjective
- 1
sluggish, clumsy, unwieldy
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. langsam, ohne Leichtigkeit
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 schwerfällig
- schwerfälliger masculine nominative singular
- am schwerfälligsten superlative
- schwerfällige feminine nominative singular
- schwerfälliges neuter nominative singular
- schwerfälligen genitive masculine singular
- schwerfälligem dative masculine singular
- der schwerfällige definite includes-article masculine
- die schwerfällige definite feminine includes-article
- das schwerfällige definite includes-article neuter
- die schwerfälligen definite includes-article nominative
- des schwerfälligen definite genitive includes-article
- der schwerfälligen definite feminine genitive
- dem schwerfälligen dative definite includes-article
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce schwerfällig?
- /ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌfɛlɪç/
- /ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌfɛlɪk/
- [ˈʃveːɐ̯ˌfɛlɪç]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to schwerfällig
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is schwerfällig in German?
schwerfällig appears about once in every 2 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).