verzweifeln
German, verb
verzweifeln is spelled V-E-R-Z-W-E-I-F-E-L-N (11 letters) and appears 2.5 times per million words in written German, the 20,546th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Verzweifeln is a German verb meaning “to despair” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Verzweifeln is a different word: “gerund of verzweifeln”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “die Hoffnung verlieren, keinen Ausweg wissen”.
What does verzweifeln mean in English?
verb
- 1
to despair
Die Hauptsache ist, nicht zu verzweifeln.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of verzweifeln
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. die Hoffnung verlieren, keinen Ausweg wissen
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 verzweifeln
- verzweifelt present singular third-person
- verzweifelte past
- sein auxiliary
- verzweifelnd participle present
- verzweifle first-person indicative present
- verzweifele first-person indicative present
- verzweifel first-person indicative present
- verzweifelst indicative present second-person
- verzweifelest second-person singular subjunctive
- verzweiflest second-person singular subjunctive
- verzweifelet plural second-person subjunctive
- verzweiflet plural second-person subjunctive
- verzweifelten first-person indicative plural
- verzweifeltest indicative preterite second-person
- verzweifeltet indicative plural preterite
- verzweifle! imperative singular
- verzweifele! imperative singular
- verzweifelt! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to verzweifeln
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is verzweifeln in German?
verzweifeln appears 2.5 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).