sich den Kopf zerbrechen
[zɪç deːn ˈkɔp͡f t͡sɛɐ̯ˈbʁɛçn̩]
The verdict
“sich den Kopf zerbrechen” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 24
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - sehr angestrengt nachdenken
Corpus desk
Index DE-sich-den-kopf-zerbrechen · sich den Kopf zerbrechen · German
sich den Kopf zerbrechen · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 24 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sich den Kopf zerbrechen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| IPA | [zɪç deːn ˈkɔp͡f t͡sɛɐ̯ˈbʁɛçn̩] |
| Letters | 24 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „sich den Kopf zerbrechen“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
sich den Kopf zerbrechen is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed [zɪç deːn ˈkɔp͡f t͡sɛɐ̯ˈbʁɛçn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "sehr angestrengt nachdenken".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for sich den Kopf zerbrechen, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is sich den Kopf zerbrechen, spelled S-I-C-H- -D-E-N- -K-O-P-F- -Z-E-R-B-R-E-C-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1sehr angestrengt nachdenken
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sich den Kopf zerbrechen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ich zerbreche mir den Kopf, was ich ihm zu Weihnachten schenken soll.
Seit Stunden zerbricht er sich den Kopf, kann aber die Lösung des Rätsels nicht finden.
This word in other languages
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.