Wahnsinn

/[ˈvaːnzɪn]/ noun

Letters

8 characters

Frequency Rank

#3,552

in German word usage

Misspellings

11

tracked variants

Confusables

2

similar word pairs

Wahnsinn is aGermannoun. It means: bestimmte Verhaltens- oder Denkmuster; historisch und umgangssprachlich auch Geisteskrankheit, bei der man nicht mehr für zurechnungsfähig gehalten wurde Pronounced [ˈvaːnzɪn]. It ranks #3,552 in German word frequency. Often confused with Wahnsinns and wahnsinnig.

Key facts for Wahnsinn
PropertyValue
HeadwordWahnsinn
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈvaːnzɪn]
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,552
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Wahnsinn in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Wahnsinn is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈvaːnzɪn]. Corpus data places it at rank #3,552 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for Wahnsinn, with forms such as "awhnsinn", "wahhnsinn", and "wahnisnn". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Wahnsinns", "wahnsinnig", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Wahnsinn, spelled W-A-H-N-S-I-N-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    bestimmte Verhaltens- oder Denkmuster; historisch und umgangssprachlich auch Geisteskrankheit, bei der man nicht mehr für zurechnungsfähig gehalten wurde
  2. 2
    Ausdruck der Begeisterung, des positiven und negativen Erstaunens, der Verwunderung, der Überraschung, der Plötzlichkeit für einen extremen, außergewöhnlichen, überraschenden Umstand oder Zustand
  3. 3
    Unvernunft

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: awhnsinn,wahhnsinn,wahnisnn,wahnnsinn,wahnsin,wahnsnin,wahnssinn,wahsninn,wanhsinn,whansinn,wwahnsinn

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Wahnsinn

Misspelling Variants of "Wahnsinn"

awhnsinn8wahhnsinn9wahnisnn8wahnnsinn9wahnsin7wahnsnin8wahnssinn9wahsninn8
Misspelling Variants of "Wahnsinn"

Frequency rank: #3,552 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Wahnsinn"?
"Wahnsinn" is spelled W-A-H-N-S-I-N-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈvaːnzɪn].
What does "Wahnsinn" mean?
As a noun, "Wahnsinn" means: bestimmte Verhaltens- oder Denkmuster; historisch und umgangssprachlich auch Geisteskrankheit, bei der man nicht mehr für zurechnungsfähig gehalten wurde
What words are commonly confused with "Wahnsinn"?
"Wahnsinn" is commonly confused with "Wahnsinns", "wahnsinnig". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Wahnsinn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Wahnsinn" is [ˈvaːnzɪn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Wahnsinn" come from?
"Wahnsinn" 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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter W in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.