werkeln
German, verb
werkeln is spelled W-E-R-K-E-L-N (7 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written German, the 51,196th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Werkeln is a German verb meaning “to do handicraft as an unskilled person, especially woodwork” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Werkeln is a different word: “gerund of werkeln”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “(wiederholt) an etwas arbeiten”.
What does werkeln mean in English?
verb
- 1
to do handicraft as an unskilled person, especially woodwork
- 2
to do work of any kind in a leisurely and/or improper manner
- 3
Austriato be busy, to work, to potter about
noun
- 1
neutergerund of werkeln
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. (wiederholt) an etwas arbeiten 2. hobbymäßig/laienhaft/versuchsweise an etwas arbeiten
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 werkeln
- werkelt present singular third-person
- werkelte past
- gewerkelt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- werkelnd participle present
- werkle first-person indicative present
- werkele first-person indicative present
- werkel first-person indicative present
- werkelst indicative present second-person
- werkelest second-person singular subjunctive
- werklest second-person singular subjunctive
- werkelet plural second-person subjunctive
- werklet plural second-person subjunctive
- werkelten first-person indicative plural
- werkeltest indicative preterite second-person
- werkeltet indicative plural preterite
- werkle! imperative singular
- werkel! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is werkeln in German?
werkeln appears about once in every 1 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).