un-
[ʊn]
The verdict
“un-” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prefix. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 3
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - verneinend; etwas ist nicht so, wie es das zugrundeliegende Adjektiv beschreibt
Corpus desk
Index DE-un · un- · German
un- · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- 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 | un- |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Prefix |
| IPA | [ʊn] |
| Letters | 3 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „un-“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
un- is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as aprefix, transcribed [ʊn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
un- doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is un-, spelled U-N--.
Definition
- 1verneinend; etwas ist nicht so, wie es das zugrundeliegende Adjektiv beschreibt
- 2Negation, etwas ist nicht durch das gekennzeichnet, was das zugrundeliegende Substantiv beschreibt
- 3weit von dem normalen Maß abweichend; besonders viel
- 4ungünstig und negativ belegt
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how un- appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Die Vorsilbe un- ist das am häufigsten vorkommende Adjektivpräfix.
Das un- in "unverfälscht" steht für die Negation „nicht“, etwas ist nicht verfälscht.
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.