unterlassen
German, verb
unterlassen is spelled U-N-T-E-R-L-A-S-S-E-N (11 letters) and appears 4.5 times per million words in written German, the 13,339th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Unterlassen is a German verb meaning “to refrain from, to eschew; to forbear, to stop doing something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Unterlassen is a different word: “gerund of unterlassen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “(meist bewusst) etwas nicht tun (oder nicht mehr tun)”.
What does unterlassen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to refrain from, to eschew; to forbear, to stop doing something
Wir müssen schweren Herzens einen Besuch unterlassen.
- 2
to fail to do something (either by intent or carelessness)
Sie haben es unterlassen, die Öffentlichkeit rechtzeitig zu warnen.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of unterlassen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. (meist bewusst) etwas nicht tun (oder nicht mehr tun)
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of unterlassen
- unterlässt present singular third-person
- unterließ past
- haben auxiliary
- 7 strong
- unterlassend participle present
- unterlasse first-person indicative present
- unterlasst indicative plural present
- unterlassest second-person singular subjunctive
- unterlasset plural second-person subjunctive
- unterließen first-person indicative plural
- unterließe first-person formal rare
- unterließest indicative preterite second-person
- unterließt indicative preterite second-person
- unterließet formal plural rare
- unterlass imperative second-person singular
- unterlass! imperative singular
- unterlasst! imperative plural
- unterlassener positive nominative strong
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to unterlassen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is unterlassen in German?
unterlassen appears 4.5 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).