umsonst
German, adverb/ʊmˈzɔnst/
umsonst is spelled U-M-S-O-N-S-T (7 letters) and appears 21 times per million words in written German, the 3,720th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Umsonst is a German adverb meaning “free of charge, gratis” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “ohne Gegenleistung, ohne Geld bezahlen zu müssen”.
What does umsonst mean in English?
adverb
- 1
free of charge, gratis
- 2
in vain, without success
- 3
for nothing; for the sake of doing it (without expecting reply)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. ohne Gegenleistung, ohne Geld bezahlen zu müssen 2. ohne Erfolg, vergebens 3. nicht grundlos, nicht ohne einen Zweck
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce umsonst?
- /ʊmˈzɔnst/
- [ʊmˈzɔnst]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to umsonst
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is umsonst in German?
umsonst appears 21 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).