verkümmern

[fɛɐ̯ˈkʏmɐn]

/[fɛɐ̯ˈkʏmɐn]/ verb

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

The verdict

“verkümmern” is uncommon German (frequency #73,059 among 4,163 “V” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,059
frequency rank, German
4,163
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - in der Entwicklung stagnieren, sich nicht weiter entwickeln

Corpus desk

Index DE-verkummern · verkümmern · German

verkümmern · rank #73,059 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,059
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,163
  • PHOTO-FINISH Verfassungsge…

Nearest frequency peer: Verfassungsgerichts (-2 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 „verkümmern“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for verkümmern
PropertyValue
Headwordverkümmern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[fɛɐ̯ˈkʏmɐn]
Letters10
Frequency rank#73,059
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „verkümmern“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Verfassungsgerichts“ (#73,057), „Verlagswesen“ (#73,061), „Vereinsmitglied“ (#73,056). Unter 4,163 „V“-Lemmata liegt „verkümmern“ bei #73,059. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

verkümmern is uncommon German at frequency #73,059 among 4,163 “V” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏmɐn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

verkümmern has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. 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.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is verkümmern, spelled V-E-R-K-Ü-M-M-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    in der Entwicklung stagnieren, sich nicht weiter entwickeln
  2. 2
    sich aufgrund fehlender Ressourcen zurückbilden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sie lässt ihr Talent verkümmern.
  2. Bei schlechter Ernährung verkümmern alle Lebewesen.

Synonyms

schrumpfenzurückbildeneingehenverwelken

Antonyms

entfaltenentwickelnheranwachsenaufblühengedeihenwachsen

This word in other languages

waste away(English)achaparrar(Español)s'étioler(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 "verkümmern"?
"verkümmern" is spelled V-E-R-K-Ü-M-M-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏmɐn].
What does "verkümmern" mean?
As a verb, "verkümmern" means: in der Entwicklung stagnieren, sich nicht weiter entwickeln
How do you pronounce "verkümmern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "verkümmern" is [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏmɐn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "verkümmern" come from?
"verkümmern" 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 "verkümmern", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

verdaulich#73,052versickern#73,069vielsagend#73,078vorheriges#73,082

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list