verbrechen
German, verb
verbrechen is spelled V-E-R-B-R-E-C-H-E-N (10 letters) and appears 32 times per million words in written German, the 2,594th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Verbrechen is a German verb meaning “to do (something wrong); to be at fault for” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Verbrechen is a different word: “a felony, indictable offence”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas Dummes, Unrechtes, Schlechtes tun”.
What does verbrechen mean in English?
verb
- 1
informalto do (something wrong); to be at fault for
- 2
obsoleteto break (a law, the law); to commit a crime
noun
- 1
neutera felony, indictable offence
- 2
neutera crime; any criminal offence
- 3
neutercrime (illegal activity as such, at large; criminals collectively)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas Dummes, Unrechtes, Schlechtes tun
noun: 1. besonders schwere Straftat 2. verantwortungsloses Vorgehen, verwerfliches Handeln 3. Straftat, die mit einer Freiheitsstrafe von mindestens einem Jahr bedroht ist (§ 12 I StGB) 4. vorsätzliche Straftat, die mit einer Freiheitsstrafe von mehr als drei Jahren bedroht ist
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 verbrechen
- Verbrechens genitive
- verbricht present singular third-person
- verbrach past
- verbrochen participle past
- verbräche past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 4 strong
- verbrechend participle present
- verbreche first-person indicative present
- verbrichst indicative present second-person
- verbrecht indicative plural present
- verbrechest second-person singular subjunctive
- verbrechet plural second-person subjunctive
- verbrachen first-person indicative plural
- verbrächen first-person formal plural
- verbrachst indicative preterite second-person
- verbracht indicative plural preterite
- verbrächest formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to verbrechen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is verbrechen in German?
verbrechen appears 32 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).