straff

[ʃtʁaf]

/[ʃtʁaf]/ adj

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

The verdict

“straff” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #29,805. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,805
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - nicht durchhängend

Corpus desk

Index DE-straff · straff · German

straff · rank #29,805 · 7 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,805
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Stoffes

Nearest frequency peer: Stoffes (-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 „straff“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „straff“ 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).

straff vs Strand
50% similar
straff vs Strahl
50% similar
straff vs Strang
50% similar

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

Key facts for straff
PropertyValue
Headwordstraff
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ʃtʁaf]
Letters6
Frequency rank#29,805
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „straff“

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Stoffes“ (#29,804), „strafrechtlichen“ (#29,806), „stiefeln“ (#29,803). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „straff“ bei #29,805. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around straff (IPA [ʃtʁaf]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #29,805 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for straff, with forms such as "srtaff", "sstraff", and "starff". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "Strand", "Strahl", "Strang", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is straff, spelled S-T-R-A-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    nicht durchhängend
  2. 2
    nicht schlaff, nicht locker
  3. 3
    sehr gut organisiert; keinen Raum für Nachlässigkeiten lassend, nichts Überflüssiges

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Das Abschleppseil muss straff gespannt sein.
  2. Rudenz: „[…] allzu straff gespannt zerspringt der Bogen.“

Synonyms

gespanntstrammfestglattdurchorganisiertgedrängtgestrafft

Antonyms

hängendweich

This word in other languages

firm(English)tenso(Español)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • srtaff
  • sstraff
  • starff
  • strfaf
  • strraff
  • sttraff
  • tsraff

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of straff - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

srtaff2sstraff1starff2strfaf2strraff1sttraff1tsraff2
Edit distance from "straff"

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 "straff"?
"straff" is spelled S-T-R-A-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃtʁaf].
What does "straff" mean?
As an adjective, "straff" means: nicht durchhängend
What words are commonly confused with "straff"?
"straff" is commonly confused with "Strand", "Strahl", "Strang". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "straff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "straff" is [ʃtʁaf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "straff" come from?
"straff" 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 "straff", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

stramm#29,807Steele#29,801Ströme#29,810Tapete#29,814

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

using7 variantsWaffel7 variantsweird7 variantsPence7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list