spähen
[ˈʃpɛːən]
The verdict
“spähen” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ausschau halten; mit seinem Blick etwas suchen oder ein Gebiet sichern
Corpus desk
Index DE-spahen · spähen · German
spähen · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 | spähen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈʃpɛːən] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „spähen“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
spähen is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʃpɛːən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Ausschau halten; mit seinem Blick etwas suchen oder ein Gebiet sichern".
spähen doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is spähen, spelled S-P-Ä-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1Ausschau halten; mit seinem Blick etwas suchen oder ein Gebiet sichern
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how spähen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Wenn Greifvögel am Himmel kreisen, dann meist, um nach Beute zu spähen.
„Zwischen Baumaterialien und Werkzeugkarren spähte sie nach einem Platz, an dem sie gut und ohne einzusinken stehen könnte.“
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.