strafen

[ˈʃtʁaːfn̩]

/[ˈʃtʁaːfn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“strafen” has 10 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #6,599. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,599
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eine unangenehme Erfahrung machen lassen, als Folge einer nicht erwünschten Handlung; eine Strafe auferlegen; jemanden strafen mit etwas

Corpus desk

Index DE-strafen · strafen · German

strafen · rank #6,599 · 10 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,599
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH store

Nearest frequency peer: store (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „strafen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „strafen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

strafen vs Stufen
57% similar
strafen vs surfen
71% similar
strafen vs straff
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for strafen
PropertyValue
Headwordstrafen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃtʁaːfn̩]
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,599
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „strafen“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).strafenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „store“ (#6,598), „style“ (#6,600), „stattgefunden“ (#6,597). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „strafen“ bei #6,599. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around strafen (IPA [ˈʃtʁaːfn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,599 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "eine unangenehme Erfahrung machen lassen, als Folge einer nicht erwünschten Handlung; eine Strafe auferlegen; jemanden strafen mit etwas".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for strafen, with forms such as "srtafen", "sstrafen", and "starfen". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Stufen", "surfen", "straff", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is strafen, spelled S-T-R-A-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine unangenehme Erfahrung machen lassen, als Folge einer nicht erwünschten Handlung; eine Strafe auferlegen; jemanden strafen mit etwas

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Mein Freund strafte mich mit Missachtung.
  2. Eltern strafen ihre Kinder mit körperlicher Gewalt oder Liebesentzug.

Synonyms

bestrafendisziplinieren

Antonyms

belohnen

This word in other languages

punish(English)castigar(Español)punir(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • srtafen
  • sstrafen
  • starfen
  • straefn
  • strafenn
  • strafne
  • strfaen
  • strrafen
  • sttrafen
  • tsrafen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of strafen - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

srtafen2sstrafen1starfen2straefn2strafenn1strafne2strfaen2strrafen1
Edit distance from "strafen"

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 "strafen"?
"strafen" is spelled S-T-R-A-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃtʁaːfn̩].
What does "strafen" mean?
As a verb, "strafen" means: eine unangenehme Erfahrung machen lassen, als Folge einer nicht erwünschten Handlung; eine Strafe auferlegen; jemanden strafen mit etwas
What words are commonly confused with "strafen"?
"strafen" is commonly confused with "Stufen", "surfen", "straff". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "strafen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "strafen" is [ˈʃtʁaːfn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "strafen" come from?
"strafen" 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 "strafen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Spitzen#6,595sinnlos#6,593Schwule#6,590rechter#6,582

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Rebellen10 variantsAnsätze10 variantsbegeben10 variantsBitcoin10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list