selbst

/[zɛlpst]/ pron

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#122

in German word usage

Misspellings

10

tracked variants

Confusables

9

similar word pairs

selbst is aGermanpron. It means: persönlich (immer in Kontrast zu anderen Möglichkeiten, die im Kontext enthalten sind) Pronounced [zɛlpst]. It ranks #122 in German word frequency. Often confused with sollst and select.

Key facts for selbst
PropertyValue
Headwordselbst
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPron
IPA[zɛlpst]
Letters6
Frequency rank#122
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for selbst is 6 letters long, classified as apron, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [zɛlpst]. Corpus data places it at rank #122 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for selbst, with forms such as "eslbst", "seblst", and "selbbst". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "sollst", "select", "Solist", 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 selbst, spelled S-E-L-B-S-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    persönlich (immer in Kontrast zu anderen Möglichkeiten, die im Kontext enthalten sind)
  2. 2
    allein, ohne fremde Hilfe

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: eslbst,seblst,selbbst,selbsst,selbstt,selbts,sellbst,selsbt,slebst,sselbst

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for selbst

Misspelling Variants of "selbst"

eslbst6seblst6selbbst7selbsst7selbstt7selbts6sellbst7selsbt6
Misspelling Variants of "selbst"

Frequency rank: #122 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "selbst"?
"selbst" is spelled S-E-L-B-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is [zɛlpst].
What does "selbst" mean?
As a pron, "selbst" means: persönlich (immer in Kontrast zu anderen Möglichkeiten, die im Kontext enthalten sind)
What words are commonly confused with "selbst"?
"selbst" is commonly confused with "sollst", "select", "Solist". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "selbst"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "selbst" is [zɛlpst]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "selbst" come from?
"selbst" 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.