tupfen

[ˈtʊp͡fn̩]

/[ˈtʊp͡fn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“tupfen” is uncommon German (frequency #61,116 among 2,684 “T” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,116
frequency rank, German
2,684
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas leicht berühren

Corpus desk

Index DE-tupfen · tupfen · German

tupfen · rank #61,116 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,116
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,684
  • PHOTO-FINISH tröste

Nearest frequency peer: tröste (-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 „tupfen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tupfen
PropertyValue
Headwordtupfen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈtʊp͡fn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#61,116
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „tupfen“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).tupfenfällt 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: „tröste“ (#61,115), „tätigt“ (#61,117), „Täuschungen“ (#61,118). Unter 2,684 „T“-Lemmata liegt „tupfen“ bei #61,116. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tupfen is uncommon German at frequency #61,116 among 2,684 “T” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈtʊp͡fn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for tupfen in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, 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 tupfen, spelled T-U-P-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas leicht berühren
  2. 2
    etwas durch mehrmaliges leichtes Berühren entfernen
  3. 3
    etwas durch mehrmaliges leichtes Berühren auftragen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Er tupfte seiner Frau auf die Schulter.
  2. Sie tupften auf den Stoff, um dessen Qualität zu erproben.

Synonyms

punktierensprenkeln

This word in other languages

moucheter(Français)

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 "tupfen"?
"tupfen" is spelled T-U-P-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈtʊp͡fn̩].
What does "tupfen" mean?
As a verb, "tupfen" means: etwas leicht berühren
How do you pronounce "tupfen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tupfen" is [ˈtʊp͡fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tupfen" come from?
"tupfen" 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 "tupfen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

tätigt#61,117tröste#61,115umging#61,119tonner#61,104

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list