Teufelskerl

[ˈtɔɪ̯fl̩sˌkɛʁl]

/[ˈtɔɪ̯fl̩sˌkɛʁl]/ noun

The verdict

“Teufelskerl” is uncommon German (frequency #82,212 among 2,684 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,212
frequency rank, German
2,684
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mann oder Junge, der durch Eigenschaften beeindruckt, die man auch dem Teufel zuschreibt: Wagemut, Frechheit, Unberechenbarkeit, Geschicklichkeit, Rücksichtslosigkeit, Tücke usw., oder durch dem en...

Corpus desk

Index DE-teufelskerl · Teufelskerl · German

Teufelskerl · rank #82,212 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,212
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,684
  • PHOTO-FINISH Tentakeln

Nearest frequency peer: Tentakeln (-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 „Teufelskerl“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Teufelskerl
PropertyValue
HeadwordTeufelskerl
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈtɔɪ̯fl̩sˌkɛʁl]
Letters11
Frequency rank#82,212
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Teufelskerl“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Teufelskerlfällt 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: „Tentakeln“ (#82,211), „Textbuch“ (#82,213), „temporäres“ (#82,210). Unter 2,684 „T“-Lemmata liegt „Teufelskerl“ bei #82,212. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Teufelskerl is uncommon German at frequency #82,212 among 2,684 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈtɔɪ̯fl̩sˌkɛʁl]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Mann oder Junge, der durch Eigenschaften beeindruckt, die man auch dem Teufel zuschreibt: Wagemut, Frechheit, Unberechenbarkeit, Geschicklichkeit, Rücksichtslosigkeit, Tücke usw., oder durch dem en...".

Teufelskerl has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Teufelskerl, spelled T-E-U-F-E-L-S-K-E-R-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mann oder Junge, der durch Eigenschaften beeindruckt, die man auch dem Teufel zuschreibt: Wagemut, Frechheit, Unberechenbarkeit, Geschicklichkeit, Rücksichtslosigkeit, Tücke usw., oder durch dem entsprechende Handlungen.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Hast Du gesehen, wie der mit dem Motorrad durch den brennenden Reifen sprang? Das ist ein Teufelskerl!
  2. Der Teufelskerl hat mich schon wieder hereingelegt mit einem neuen Trick!

This word in other languages

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 "Teufelskerl"?
"Teufelskerl" is spelled T-E-U-F-E-L-S-K-E-R-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈtɔɪ̯fl̩sˌkɛʁl].
What does "Teufelskerl" mean?
As a noun, "Teufelskerl" means: Mann oder Junge, der durch Eigenschaften beeindruckt, die man auch dem Teufel zuschreibt: Wagemut, Frechheit, Unberechenbarkeit, Geschicklichkeit, Rücksichtslosigkeit, Tücke usw., oder durch dem en...
How do you pronounce "Teufelskerl"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Teufelskerl" is [ˈtɔɪ̯fl̩sˌkɛʁl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Teufelskerl" come from?
"Teufelskerl" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "Teufelskerl", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list