sinister
[ziˈnɪstɐ]
The verdict
“sinister” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - düster und unheilvoll
Corpus desk
Index DE-sinister · sinister · German
sinister · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 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 | sinister |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ziˈnɪstɐ] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „sinister“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
sinister is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ziˈnɪstɐ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for sinister in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is sinister, spelled S-I-N-I-S-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1düster und unheilvoll
- 2links, auf der linken Seite
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sinister appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Gemeinhin denkt man, Goths hingen den ganzen Tag sinistren Gedanken nach.
Was schaust du so sinister drein?
Synonyms
Antonyms
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.