Unwort des Jahres

[ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs]

/[ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs]/ phrase

The verdict

“Unwort des Jahres” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as a phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - einmal im Jahr von einem Gremium ausgewähltes Wort, das in dem betreffenden Jahr in gesellschaftspolitischem Zusammenhang besonders unangenehm aufgefallen ist

Key facts for Unwort des Jahres
PropertyValue
HeadwordUnwort des Jahres
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs]
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Unwort des Jahres” sits in German frequency

Unwort des Jahres falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Unwort des Jahres is 17 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "einmal im Jahr von einem Gremium ausgewähltes Wort, das in dem betreffenden Jahr in gesellschaftspolitischem Zusammenhang besonders unangenehm aufgefallen ist".

No misspelling variants are generated for Unwort des Jahres in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Unwort des Jahres, spelled U-N-W-O-R-T- -D-E-S- -J-A-H-R-E-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    einmal im Jahr von einem Gremium ausgewähltes Wort, das in dem betreffenden Jahr in gesellschaftspolitischem Zusammenhang besonders unangenehm aufgefallen ist

Antonyms

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “Unwort des Jahres, German word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/de/wort/unwort-des-jahres

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Unwort des Jahres"?
"Unwort des Jahres" is spelled U-N-W-O-R-T- -D-E-S- -J-A-H-R-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs].
What does "Unwort des Jahres" mean?
As a phrase, "Unwort des Jahres" means: einmal im Jahr von einem Gremium ausgewähltes Wort, das in dem betreffenden Jahr in gesellschaftspolitischem Zusammenhang besonders unangenehm aufgefallen ist
How do you pronounce "Unwort des Jahres"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Unwort des Jahres" is [ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Unwort des Jahres" come from?
"Unwort des Jahres" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Using “Unwort des Jahres”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is U-N-W-O-R-T- -D-E-S- -J-A-H-R-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter U in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list