umami

[ʊˈmaːmi]

/[ʊˈmaːmi]/ adj

The verdict

“umami” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - grundlegende, mit rauchig vergleichbare Geschmacksrichtung, die durch die Aminosäuren Glutaminsäure, Asparaginsäure und eiweißreiche Nahrung verursacht wird

Corpus desk

Index DE-umami · umami · German

umami · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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.

Key facts for umami
PropertyValue
Headwordumami
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ʊˈmaːmi]
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „umami“ im Deutschen

umamischafft es nicht in die Top 100.000 des Deutschen: Zone für Fach-, Alt- oder Seltenwortschatz.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

umami is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ʊˈmaːmi]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "grundlegende, mit rauchig vergleichbare Geschmacksrichtung, die durch die Aminosäuren Glutaminsäure, Asparaginsäure und eiweißreiche Nahrung verursacht wird".

umami has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is umami, spelled U-M-A-M-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    grundlegende, mit rauchig vergleichbare Geschmacksrichtung, die durch die Aminosäuren Glutaminsäure, Asparaginsäure und eiweißreiche Nahrung verursacht wird

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Schon im Kindergarten lernen wir den Unterschied zwischen süß und sauer, salzig und bitter. Fehlt nur noch umami, das den Geschmack von eiweißreicher Nahrung kennzeichnet.
  2. Die Fähigkeit, die fünf Hauptrichtungen süß, sauer, salzig, bitter und umami zu schmecken, beruhe auf bestimmten biochemischen Rezeptoren, erläutert das Team um Peihua Jiang vom Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia (USA).

Antonyms

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "umami"?
"umami" is spelled U-M-A-M-I. The IPA pronunciation is [ʊˈmaːmi].
What does "umami" mean?
As an adjective, "umami" means: grundlegende, mit rauchig vergleichbare Geschmacksrichtung, die durch die Aminosäuren Glutaminsäure, Asparaginsäure und eiweißreiche Nahrung verursacht wird
How do you pronounce "umami"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "umami" is [ʊˈmaːmi]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "umami" come from?
"umami" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list