überraschen

[yːbɐˈʁaʃn̩]

/[yːbɐˈʁaʃn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“überraschen” has 15 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #6,384. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,384
frequency rank, German
443
“Ü” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemanden durch etwas Unerwartetes in Erstaunen setzen

Corpus desk

Index DE-uberraschen · überraschen · German

überraschen · rank #6,384 · 15 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,384
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 443
  • PHOTO-FINISH überaus

Nearest frequency peer: überaus (-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 „überraschen“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „überraschen“ 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).

überraschen vs überrascht
82% similar
überraschen vs überwachen
82% similar
überraschen vs überraschte
82% similar

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

Key facts for überraschen
PropertyValue
Headwordüberraschen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[yːbɐˈʁaʃn̩]
Letters11
Frequency rank#6,384
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „überraschen“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.überraschenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „überaus“ (#6,383), „übertrieben“ (#6,385), „Zuschauern“ (#6,382). Unter 443 „Ü“-Lemmata liegt „überraschen“ bei #6,384. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around überraschen (IPA [yːbɐˈʁaʃn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,384 among 443 “Ü” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for überraschen, with forms such as "büerraschen", "übberraschen", and "überarschen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "überrascht", "überwachen", "überraschte", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is überraschen, spelled Ü-B-E-R-R-A-S-C-H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemanden durch etwas Unerwartetes in Erstaunen setzen
  2. 2
    jemanden, der etwas Verbotenes oder Heimliches tut, ertappen
  3. 3
    jemanden völlig unvorbereitet treffen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Unsere Mannschaft überraschte gestern alle Zuschauer, als sie den Gegner 3:0 schlug.
  2. Mein bester Freund hat mich gestern mit einem Besuch überrascht, damit hätte ich nicht gerechnet.

This word in other languages

surprise(English)sorprender(Español)surprendre(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • büerraschen
  • übberraschen
  • überarschen
  • überaschen
  • überracshen
  • überrascchen
  • überrascehn
  • überraschenn
  • überraschhen
  • überraschne
  • überrashcen
  • überrasschen
  • überrsachen
  • übreraschen
  • üebrraschen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

büerraschen2übberraschen1überarschen2überaschen1überracshen2überrascchen1überrascehn2überraschenn1
Edit distance from "überraschen"

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 "überraschen"?
"überraschen" is spelled Ü-B-E-R-R-A-S-C-H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [yːbɐˈʁaʃn̩].
What does "überraschen" mean?
As a verb, "überraschen" means: jemanden durch etwas Unerwartetes in Erstaunen setzen
What words are commonly confused with "überraschen"?
"überraschen" is commonly confused with "überrascht", "überwachen", "überraschte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "überraschen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "überraschen" is [yːbɐˈʁaʃn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "überraschen" come from?
"überraschen" 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 "überraschen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

übertrieben#6,385ausgedrückt#6,392Christopher#6,403Stuttgarter#6,361

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

Zuschauern15 variantsschwierige15 variantsschultern15 variantsFahrzeugen15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list