sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen

[zaɪ̯n lɪçt ˈʊntɐ deːn ˈʃɛfl̩ ˈʃtɛlən]

/[zaɪ̯n lɪçt ˈʊntɐ deːn ˈʃɛfl̩ ˈʃtɛlən]/ phrase

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
37
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - sehr bescheiden sein, sich nicht mit den eigenen Fähigkeiten und Verdiensten brüsten

Key facts for sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen
PropertyValue
Headwordsein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[zaɪ̯n lɪçt ˈʊntɐ deːn ˈʃɛfl̩ ˈʃtɛlən]
Letters37
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen” sits in German frequency

sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed [zaɪ̯n lɪçt ˈʊntɐ deːn ˈʃɛfl̩ ˈʃtɛlən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "sehr bescheiden sein, sich nicht mit den eigenen Fähigkeiten und Verdiensten brüsten".

Zero misspellings are on record for sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

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. The correct German form is sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen, spelled S-E-I-N- -L-I-C-H-T- -U-N-T-E-R- -D-E-N- -S-C-H-E-F-F-E-L- -S-T-E-L-L-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    sehr bescheiden sein, sich nicht mit den eigenen Fähigkeiten und Verdiensten brüsten

Antonyms

angebenhochstapelnprotzen

This word in other languages

hide one's light under a bushel(English)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen"?
"sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen" is spelled S-E-I-N- -L-I-C-H-T- -U-N-T-E-R- -D-E-N- -S-C-H-E-F-F-E-L- -S-T-E-L-L-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [zaɪ̯n lɪçt ˈʊntɐ deːn ˈʃɛfl̩ ˈʃtɛlən].
What does "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen" mean?
As a phrase, "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen" means: sehr bescheiden sein, sich nicht mit den eigenen Fähigkeiten und Verdiensten brüsten
How do you pronounce "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen" is [zaɪ̯n lɪçt ˈʊntɐ deːn ˈʃɛfl̩ ˈʃtɛlən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen" come from?
"sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is S-E-I-N- -L-I-C-H-T- -U-N-T-E-R- -D-E-N- -S-C-H-E-F-F-E-L- -S-T-E-L-L-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [zaɪ̯n lɪçt ˈʊntɐ deːn ˈʃɛfl̩ ˈʃtɛlən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list