vertrinken
German, verb/fərˈtrɪŋkən/
vertrinken is spelled V-E-R-T-R-I-N-K-E-N (10 letters) and appears about once in every 30 million words in written German, the 317,631st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Vertrinken is a German verb meaning “to drink away (spend something on drinking alcohol)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “durch das Kaufen und Trinken von Alkohol vernichten/ausgeben”.
What does vertrinken mean in English?
verb
- 1
to drink away (spend something on drinking alcohol)
Er hat sein ganzes Geld vertrunken.
- 2
rareto drink away, drown (overcome something by drinking alcohol)
Da sitzen sie und vertrinken ihre Sorgen.
- 3
obsoleteto get drunk
- 4
obsoleteto drown (die of suffocation in a liquid)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. durch das Kaufen und Trinken von Alkohol vernichten/ausgeben 2. negative Gefühle/Geschehnisse durch Alkoholkonsum vergessen
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 vertrinken
- vertrinkt present singular third-person
- vertrank past
- vertrunken participle past
- vertränke past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 3 strong
- vertrinkend participle present
- vertrinke first-person indicative present
- vertrinkst indicative present second-person
- vertrinkest second-person singular subjunctive
- vertrinket plural second-person subjunctive
- vertranken first-person indicative plural
- vertränken first-person formal plural
- vertrankst indicative preterite second-person
- vertrankt indicative plural preterite
- vertränkest formal rare second-person
- vertränkst formal rare second-person
- vertränket formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce vertrinken?
- /fərˈtrɪŋkən/
- /fɛr-/
- [fɐˈtʁɪŋ.kŋ̍]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is vertrinken in German?
vertrinken appears about once in every 30 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).