um ein Haar
[ʊm aɪ̯n haːɐ̯]
The verdict
“um ein Haar” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - beinahe, nur sehr knapp nicht
Corpus desk
Index DE-um-ein-haar · um ein Haar · German
um ein Haar · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "U" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | um ein Haar |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| IPA | [ʊm aɪ̯n haːɐ̯] |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „um ein Haar“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
um ein Haar is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed [ʊm aɪ̯n haːɐ̯]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "beinahe, nur sehr knapp nicht".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for um ein Haar, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
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 um ein Haar, spelled U-M- -E-I-N- -H-A-A-R.
Definition
- 1beinahe, nur sehr knapp nicht
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how um ein Haar appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
„Hektisch reißt er das Lenkrad herum, quietschend umschiffen wir den Haufen. Um ein Haar hätte es gerumst.“
„Während ich unter meiner Plüschglocke vor mich hin fantasiere, verpasse ich um ein Haar meinen Flug: Es gab einen kurzfristigen Gate-Wechsel.“
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.