stiefmütterlich

[ˈʃtiːfˌmʏtɐlɪç]

/[ˈʃtiːfˌmʏtɐlɪç]/ adj

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

The verdict

“stiefmütterlich” is uncommon German (frequency #61,957 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,957
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ungeliebt, vernachlässigt seiend

Corpus desk

Index DE-stiefmutterlich · stiefmütterlich · German

stiefmütterlich · rank #61,957 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,957
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Steuerhinterz…

Nearest frequency peer: Steuerhinterzieher (-1 rank slots)

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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „stiefmütterlich“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „stiefmütterlich“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stiefmütterlich
PropertyValue
Headwordstiefmütterlich
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈʃtiːfˌmʏtɐlɪç]
Letters15
Frequency rank#61,957
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „stiefmütterlich“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.stiefmütterlichfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Steuerhinterzieher“ (#61,956), „stinke“ (#61,958), „Steueraufkommen“ (#61,955). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „stiefmütterlich“ bei #61,957. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stiefmütterlich is uncommon German at frequency #61,957 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ˈʃtiːfˌmʏtɐlɪç]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "ungeliebt, vernachlässigt seiend".

No misspelling variants are generated for stiefmütterlich in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is stiefmütterlich, spelled S-T-I-E-F-M-Ü-T-T-E-R-L-I-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    ungeliebt, vernachlässigt seiend

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how stiefmütterlich appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Die Uboote führten somit in dieser Zeit noch ein stiefmütterliches Dasein.“

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stiefmütterlich"?
"stiefmütterlich" is spelled S-T-I-E-F-M-Ü-T-T-E-R-L-I-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃtiːfˌmʏtɐlɪç].
What does "stiefmütterlich" mean?
As an adjective, "stiefmütterlich" means: ungeliebt, vernachlässigt seiend
How do you pronounce "stiefmütterlich"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stiefmütterlich" is [ˈʃtiːfˌmʏtɐlɪç]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "stiefmütterlich" come from?
"stiefmütterlich" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "stiefmütterlich", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 15 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Steueraufkommen#61,955stattgefundenen#61,953Studienanfänger#61,968Treibhauseffekt#61,999

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list