superficial
[…]
The verdict
“superficial” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - an der obersten Schicht von etwas (zum Beispiel Erdboden, Gestein, Haut) oder sie betreffend, an der Außenseite; oberflächlich, äußerlich
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | superficial |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | […] |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “superficial” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for superficial is 11 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as […]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
superficial doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is superficial, spelled S-U-P-E-R-F-I-C-I-A-L.
Definition
- 1an der obersten Schicht von etwas (zum Beispiel Erdboden, Gestein, Haut) oder sie betreffend, an der Außenseite; oberflächlich, äußerlich
- 2ohne Tiefe, ohne genaue Beschäftigung mit einer Sache, nur das Offensichtliche berücksichtigend; oberflächlich
- 3als ähnlich erscheinend, dennoch verschieden; äußerlich
Synonyms
Antonyms
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “superficial”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-U-P-E-R-F-I-C-I-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as […] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.