unken

[ˈʊŋkn̩]

/[ˈʊŋkn̩]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“unken” is uncommon German (frequency #82,257 among 2,159 “U” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,257
frequency rank, German
2,159
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - über eine zukünftige/unbekannte Angelegenheit pessimistische Vermutungen anstellen; Zukünftiges pessimistisch betrachten; eine negative Erwartungshaltung haben

Corpus desk

Index DE-unken · unken · German

unken · rank #82,257 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,257
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,159
  • PHOTO-FINISH Unglauben

Nearest frequency peer: Unglauben (-1 rank slots)

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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „unken“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „unken“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for unken
PropertyValue
Headwordunken
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʊŋkn̩]
Letters5
Frequency rank#82,257
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „unken“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).unkenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Unglauben“ (#82,256), „Unmittelbarkeit“ (#82,258), „ungeheurer“ (#82,254). Unter 2,159 „U“-Lemmata liegt „unken“ bei #82,257. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

unken is uncommon German at frequency #82,257 among 2,159 “U” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʊŋkn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "über eine zukünftige/unbekannte Angelegenheit pessimistische Vermutungen anstellen; Zukünftiges pessimistisch betrachten; eine negative Erwartungshaltung haben".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for unken, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is unken, spelled U-N-K-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    über eine zukünftige/unbekannte Angelegenheit pessimistische Vermutungen anstellen; Zukünftiges pessimistisch betrachten; eine negative Erwartungshaltung haben

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jetzt wollen wir mal nicht unken, wir wissen ja gar nicht, was passiert ist.
  2. „Spötter unkten, das WePad gebe es gar nicht.“

Synonyms

schwarzmalenschwarzsehen

This word in other languages

jouer les Cassandre(Français)agourar(Português)

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

How do you spell "unken"?
"unken" is spelled U-N-K-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʊŋkn̩].
What does "unken" mean?
As a verb, "unken" means: über eine zukünftige/unbekannte Angelegenheit pessimistische Vermutungen anstellen; Zukünftiges pessimistisch betrachten; eine negative Erwartungshaltung haben
How do you pronounce "unken"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "unken" is [ˈʊŋkn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "unken" come from?
"unken" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "unken", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Uboot#82,240tried#82,231torch#82,221tinto#82,217

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list