Streichholz

[ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çˌhɔlt͡s]

/[ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çˌhɔlt͡s]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Streichholz” is uncommon German (frequency #51,720 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,720
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Stäbchen aus Holz, an dessen Kopf sich ein Material befindet, das sich – sobald man es über angeraute Pappe streicht – leicht entzündet

Corpus desk

Index DE-streichholz · Streichholz · German

Streichholz · rank #51,720 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,720
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Strecker

Nearest frequency peer: Strecker (-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 „Streichholz“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Streichholz
PropertyValue
HeadwordStreichholz
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çˌhɔlt͡s]
Letters11
Frequency rank#51,720
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Streichholz“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Streichholzfällt 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: „Strecker“ (#51,719), „Stresstest“ (#51,722), „Strafsachen“ (#51,717). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Streichholz“ bei #51,720. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Streichholz is uncommon German at frequency #51,720 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çˌhɔlt͡s]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Stäbchen aus Holz, an dessen Kopf sich ein Material befindet, das sich – sobald man es über angeraute Pappe streicht – leicht entzündet".

Streichholz has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Streichholz, spelled S-T-R-E-I-C-H-H-O-L-Z.

Definition

  1. 1
    Stäbchen aus Holz, an dessen Kopf sich ein Material befindet, das sich – sobald man es über angeraute Pappe streicht – leicht entzündet

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ich zünde mit dem Streichholz eine Kerze an.
  2. „Bei uns hatte keiner ein Streichholz, um eine Kerze anzuzünden.“

Synonyms

ZündholzSchwefelholzSchwefelhölzchenMatchFühroukieVuurhoutjie

Antonyms

FeuerzeugGasanzünder

This word in other languages

matchstick(English)cerilla(Español)allumette(Français)fósforo(Português)

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 "Streichholz"?
"Streichholz" is spelled S-T-R-E-I-C-H-H-O-L-Z. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çˌhɔlt͡s].
What does "Streichholz" mean?
As a noun, "Streichholz" means: Stäbchen aus Holz, an dessen Kopf sich ein Material befindet, das sich – sobald man es über angeraute Pappe streicht – leicht entzündet
How do you pronounce "Streichholz"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Streichholz" is [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çˌhɔlt͡s]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Streichholz" come from?
"Streichholz" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "Streichholz", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Strafsachen#51,717Studioalbum#51,724Stakeholder#51,709südlichsten#51,731

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list