unzulänglich

[ˈʊnt͡suˌlɛŋlɪç]

/[ˈʊnt͡suˌlɛŋlɪç]/ adj

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

The verdict

“unzulänglich” is uncommon German (frequency #73,042 among 2,159 “U” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,042
frequency rank, German
2,159
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - so, dass es nicht den Anforderungen entspricht oder zu wenig ist; nicht ausreichend

Corpus desk

Index DE-unzulanglich · unzulänglich · German

unzulänglich · rank #73,042 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,042
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,159
  • PHOTO-FINISH unzerstörbar

Nearest frequency peer: unzerstörbar (-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 „unzulänglich“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for unzulänglich
PropertyValue
Headwordunzulänglich
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈʊnt͡suˌlɛŋlɪç]
Letters12
Frequency rank#73,042
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „unzulänglich“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).unzulänglichfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „unzerstörbar“ (#73,041), „Urologe“ (#73,043), „unwahre“ (#73,040). Unter 2,159 „U“-Lemmata liegt „unzulänglich“ bei #73,042. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

unzulänglich is uncommon German at frequency #73,042 among 2,159 “U” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed [ˈʊnt͡suˌlɛŋlɪç]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "so, dass es nicht den Anforderungen entspricht oder zu wenig ist; nicht ausreichend".

unzulänglich has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is unzulänglich, spelled U-N-Z-U-L-Ä-N-G-L-I-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    so, dass es nicht den Anforderungen entspricht oder zu wenig ist; nicht ausreichend

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Auch die Straßenverbindungen sind im Dikti-Gebirge bisher eher unzulänglich.
  2. Dass es dennoch zu Mail-Loops kommt, die nicht automatisch unterbrochen werden, liegt vor allem an Software, die die Gefahr von Mail-Loops nicht berücksichtigt oder an unzulänglicher Konfiguration.

This word in other languages

insufficient(English)insuficiente(Español)insuffisant(Français)

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 "unzulänglich"?
"unzulänglich" is spelled U-N-Z-U-L-Ä-N-G-L-I-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʊnt͡suˌlɛŋlɪç].
What does "unzulänglich" mean?
As an adjective, "unzulänglich" means: so, dass es nicht den Anforderungen entspricht oder zu wenig ist; nicht ausreichend
How do you pronounce "unzulänglich"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "unzulänglich" is [ˈʊnt͡suˌlɛŋlɪç]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "unzulänglich" come from?
"unzulänglich" 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 "unzulänglich", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

unzerstörbar#73,041unschlagbare#73,034unnatürliche#73,033unersättlich#73,028

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list