Unterfangen

[ʊntɐˈfaŋən]

/[ʊntɐˈfaŋən]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Unterfangen” has 17 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #19,744. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,744
frequency rank, German
2,159
“U” headwords
17
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Vorhaben, das ein Risiko mit sich bringt

Corpus desk

Index DE-unterfangen · Unterfangen · German

Unterfangen · rank #19,744 · 17 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,744
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,159
  • PHOTO-FINISH unglücklichen

Nearest frequency peer: unglücklichen (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Unterfangen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Unterfangen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Unterfangen vs Unterlagen
82% similar
Unterfangen vs Untertanen
82% similar
Unterfangen vs untersagen
73% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Unterfangen
PropertyValue
HeadwordUnterfangen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʊntɐˈfaŋən]
Letters11
Frequency rank#19,744
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Unterfangen“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Unterfangenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „unglücklichen“ (#19,743), „unverzichtbar“ (#19,745), „unerwünscht“ (#19,742). Unter 2,159 „U“-Lemmata liegt „Unterfangen“ bei #19,744. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around Unterfangen (IPA [ʊntɐˈfaŋən]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,744 among 2,159 “U” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Vorhaben, das ein Risiko mit sich bringt".

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for Unterfangen, with forms such as "nuterfangen", "unetrfangen", and "unnterfangen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Unterlagen", "Untertanen", "untersagen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is Unterfangen, spelled U-N-T-E-R-F-A-N-G-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Vorhaben, das ein Risiko mit sich bringt

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Es ist kein leichtes Unterfangen, aus einem Gefängnis auszubrechen.
  2. „Für Kant war eine Reise nur ein unwillkommenes Unterfangen, das ihn in der Ruhe seiner Gewohnheiten aufstörte.“

This word in other languages

undertaking(English)empresa(Español)entreprise(Français)empreendimento(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nuterfangen
  • unetrfangen
  • unnterfangen
  • untefrangen
  • unterafngen
  • unterfagnen
  • unterfanegn
  • unterfangenn
  • unterfanggen
  • unterfangne
  • unterfanngen
  • unterffangen
  • unterfnagen
  • unterrfangen
  • untrefangen
  • untterfangen
  • utnerfangen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Unterfangen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

nuterfangen2unetrfangen2unnterfangen1untefrangen2unterafngen2unterfagnen2unterfanegn2unterfangenn1
Edit distance from "Unterfangen"

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 "Unterfangen"?
"Unterfangen" is spelled U-N-T-E-R-F-A-N-G-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ʊntɐˈfaŋən].
What does "Unterfangen" mean?
As a noun, "Unterfangen" means: Vorhaben, das ein Risiko mit sich bringt
What words are commonly confused with "Unterfangen"?
"Unterfangen" is commonly confused with "Unterlagen", "Untertanen", "untersagen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Unterfangen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Unterfangen" is [ʊntɐˈfaŋən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Unterfangen" come from?
"Unterfangen" 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 "Unterfangen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

unerwünscht#19,742verschluckt#19,757verschulden#19,758symbolische#19,725

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

Rückschlag17 variantszweifelhaft17 variantsangefordert17 variantspolizeiliche17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list