umsonst
[ʊmˈzɔnst]
The verdict
“umsonst” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #3,780 in German word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #3,780
- frequency rank, German
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - ohne Gegenleistung, ohne Geld bezahlen zu müssen
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | umsonst |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [ʊmˈzɔnst] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #3,780 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “umsonst” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for umsonst is 7 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ʊmˈzɔnst]. Corpus data places it at rank #3,780 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for umsonst, with forms such as "musonst", "ummsonst", and "umosnst". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is umsonst, spelled U-M-S-O-N-S-T.
Definition
- 1ohne Gegenleistung, ohne Geld bezahlen zu müssen
- 2ohne Erfolg, vergebens
- 3nicht grundlos, nicht ohne einen Zweck
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: musonst,ummsonst,umosnst,umsnost,umsonnst,umsonsst,umsonstt,umsonts,umsosnt,umssonst,usmonst
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of umsonst - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “umsonst”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is U-M-S-O-N-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ʊmˈzɔnst] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.