übertrafen

[yːbɐˈtʁaːfn̩]

/[yːbɐˈtʁaːfn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“übertrafen” is uncommon German (frequency #65,934 among 443 “Ü” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,934
frequency rank, German
443
“Ü” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs übertreffen

Corpus desk

Index DE-ubertrafen · übertrafen · German

übertrafen · rank #65,934 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,934
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 443
  • PHOTO-FINISH übersandt

Nearest frequency peer: übersandt (-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 „übertrafen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for übertrafen
PropertyValue
Headwordübertrafen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[yːbɐˈtʁaːfn̩]
Letters10
Frequency rank#65,934
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „übertrafen“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).übertrafenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „übersandt“ (#65,933), „übertönen“ (#65,935), „Ärmelkanal“ (#65,931). Unter 443 „Ü“-Lemmata liegt „übertrafen“ bei #65,934. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

übertrafen is uncommon German at frequency #65,934 among 443 “Ü” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [yːbɐˈtʁaːfn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

übertrafen has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

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 übertrafen, spelled Ü-B-E-R-T-R-A-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs übertreffen
  2. 2
    3. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs übertreffen

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 "übertrafen"?
"übertrafen" is spelled Ü-B-E-R-T-R-A-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [yːbɐˈtʁaːfn̩].
What does "übertrafen" mean?
As a verb, "übertrafen" means: 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs übertreffen
How do you pronounce "übertrafen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "übertrafen" is [yːbɐˈtʁaːfn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "übertrafen" come from?
"übertrafen" 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 "übertrafen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list