Unterlegenheit

[ʊntɐˈleːɡn̩haɪ̯t]

/[ʊntɐˈleːɡn̩haɪ̯t]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Unterlegenheit” is uncommon German (frequency #71,967 among 2,159 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,967
frequency rank, German
2,159
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Zustand oder Eigenschaft, in einer bestimmten Sache unterlegen (schwächer, schlechter) zu sein

Corpus desk

Index DE-unterlegenheit · Unterlegenheit · German

Unterlegenheit · rank #71,967 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,967
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,159
  • PHOTO-FINISH Untergrundes

Nearest frequency peer: Untergrundes (-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 „Unterlegenheit“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Unterlegenheit
PropertyValue
HeadwordUnterlegenheit
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʊntɐˈleːɡn̩haɪ̯t]
Letters14
Frequency rank#71,967
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Unterlegenheit“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Unterlegenheitfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Untergrundes“ (#71,966), „unternehmerisch“ (#71,968), „untergeschoben“ (#71,965). Unter 2,159 „U“-Lemmata liegt „Unterlegenheit“ bei #71,967. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Unterlegenheit is uncommon German at frequency #71,967 among 2,159 “U” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ʊntɐˈleːɡn̩haɪ̯t]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Zustand oder Eigenschaft, in einer bestimmten Sache unterlegen (schwächer, schlechter) zu sein".

No misspelling variants are generated for Unterlegenheit in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, 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 Unterlegenheit, spelled U-N-T-E-R-L-E-G-E-N-H-E-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Zustand oder Eigenschaft, in einer bestimmten Sache unterlegen (schwächer, schlechter) zu sein

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Bin ich selbstverliebt, bloß weil ich zu oft in den Spiegel schaue und andere Menschen vielleicht zu oft ihre Unterlegenheit spüren lasse?“
  2. „Wie schon so oft wurde Sabina sich ihrer Unterlegenheit bewußt, spürte sie das Drohen riesiger Gefahren.“

Antonyms

Überlegenheit

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 "Unterlegenheit"?
"Unterlegenheit" is spelled U-N-T-E-R-L-E-G-E-N-H-E-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ʊntɐˈleːɡn̩haɪ̯t].
What does "Unterlegenheit" mean?
As a noun, "Unterlegenheit" means: Zustand oder Eigenschaft, in einer bestimmten Sache unterlegen (schwächer, schlechter) zu sein
How do you pronounce "Unterlegenheit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Unterlegenheit" is [ʊntɐˈleːɡn̩haɪ̯t]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Unterlegenheit" come from?
"Unterlegenheit" 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 "Unterlegenheit", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

untergeschoben#71,965Vermögensteuer#71,992Vertrauensmann#72,001Treppenaufgang#71,932

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list