wackeln
German, verb
wackeln is spelled W-A-C-K-E-L-N (7 letters) and appears 2.0 times per million words in written German, the 23,884th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Wackeln is a German verb meaning “to waggle, to wobble” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Wackeln is a different word: “gerund of wackeln”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich hin und her neigen”.
What does wackeln mean in English?
verb
- 1
to waggle, to wobble
Vorsicht mit dieser Leiter; sie wackelt.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of wackeln
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich hin und her neigen 2. kurz vor dem Versagen oder Sturz stehen 3. lose sein (zum Beispiel ein Bolzen) 4. hin und her bewegen
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 wackeln
- wackelt present singular third-person
- wackelte past
- gewackelt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- wackelnd participle present
- wackle first-person indicative present
- wackele first-person indicative present
- wackel first-person indicative present
- wackelst indicative present second-person
- wackelest second-person singular subjunctive
- wacklest second-person singular subjunctive
- wackelet plural second-person subjunctive
- wacklet plural second-person subjunctive
- wackelten first-person indicative plural
- wackeltest indicative preterite second-person
- wackeltet indicative plural preterite
- wackele! imperative singular
- wackle! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to wackeln
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is wackeln in German?
wackeln appears 2.0 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).