vorgreifen

[ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]

/[ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“vorgreifen” is uncommon German (frequency #86,031 among 4,163 “V” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#86,031
frequency rank, German
4,163
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - die Hände nach vorne strecken und zufassen (greifen)

Corpus desk

Index DE-vorgreifen · vorgreifen · German

vorgreifen · rank #86,031 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #86,031
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,163
  • PHOTO-FINISH Vorbedingung

Nearest frequency peer: Vorbedingung (-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 „vorgreifen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for vorgreifen
PropertyValue
Headwordvorgreifen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]
Letters10
Frequency rank#86,031
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „vorgreifen“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).vorgreifenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Vorbedingung“ (#86,030), „vorlaut“ (#86,032), „Vorauszahlungen“ (#86,029). Unter 4,163 „V“-Lemmata liegt „vorgreifen“ bei #86,031. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

vorgreifen is uncommon German at frequency #86,031 among 4,163 “V” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for vorgreifen, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is vorgreifen, spelled V-O-R-G-R-E-I-F-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    die Hände nach vorne strecken und zufassen (greifen)
  2. 2
    etwas (unhöflicherweise, unklugerweise) zu einem früheren Zeitpunkt tun, als es angemessen oder aktuell ist
  3. 3
    etwas, das erst zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt aus dem Zusammenhang heraus seine Bedeutung erhält, mit Absicht früher sagen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Er versuchte mit der linken Hand, die eben vorgreifen hatte wollen, das Tau zu packen, doch sie verfehlte ihr Ziel.“
  2. „Sie stockte und biss sich auf die Lippe, dann sprudelte es aus ihr hervor: »Liebster, ich wollte dir nicht vorgreifen, aber […].«“

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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 "vorgreifen"?
"vorgreifen" is spelled V-O-R-G-R-E-I-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩].
What does "vorgreifen" mean?
As a verb, "vorgreifen" means: die Hände nach vorne strecken und zufassen (greifen)
How do you pronounce "vorgreifen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vorgreifen" is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "vorgreifen" come from?
"vorgreifen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "vorgreifen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list