verhärten

[fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtn̩]

/[fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“verhärten” is uncommon German (frequency #76,342 among 4,163 “V” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,342
frequency rank, German
4,163
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - so verändern, dass etwas im Material widerstandsfähiger (härter) wird

Corpus desk

Index DE-verharten · verhärten · German

verhärten · rank #76,342 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,342
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,163
  • PHOTO-FINISH Verfügungsgew…

Nearest frequency peer: Verfügungsgewalt (-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 „verhärten“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for verhärten
PropertyValue
Headwordverhärten
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#76,342
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „verhärten“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Verfügungsgewalt“ (#76,341), „verfassungsfeindlich“ (#76,340), „vereitelte“ (#76,339). Unter 4,163 „V“-Lemmata liegt „verhärten“ bei #76,342. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

verhärten is uncommon German at frequency #76,342 among 4,163 “V” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for verhärten in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is verhärten, spelled V-E-R-H-Ä-R-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    so verändern, dass etwas im Material widerstandsfähiger (härter) wird
  2. 2
    so verändern, dass jemand im Geiste/Auftreten robuster/brutaler (härter) wird
  3. 3
    sich so verändern, dass etwas oder jemand weniger anpassungsfähig/formbar/elastisch ist als zuvor
  4. 4
    (mit der Zeit) kompakter, härter werden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Sonne trocknet die Oberfläche aus und verhärtet sie.
  2. Die gescheiterte Ehe hat ihr Herz verhärtet.

This word in other languages

harden(English)endurecer(Español)durcir(Français)endurecer(Português)

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 "verhärten"?
"verhärten" is spelled V-E-R-H-Ä-R-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtn̩].
What does "verhärten" mean?
As a verb, "verhärten" means: so verändern, dass etwas im Material widerstandsfähiger (härter) wird
How do you pronounce "verhärten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "verhärten" is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "verhärten" come from?
"verhärten" 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 "verhärten", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

verbleibe#76,338verkorkst#76,346variierte#76,332variables#76,331

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list