widerfahren

[ˌvidɐˈfaːʁən]

/[ˌvidɐˈfaːʁən]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“widerfahren” has 17 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #24,201. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#24,201
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords
17
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (jemandem) geschehen (besonders etwas Unausweichliches, scheinbar vom Schicksal Bestimmtes)

Corpus desk

Index DE-widerfahren · widerfahren · German

widerfahren · rank #24,201 · 17 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #24,201
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH Wetters

Nearest frequency peer: Wetters (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „widerfahren“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „widerfahren“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

widerfahren vs widerfährt
73% similar
widerfahren vs weiterfahren
83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for widerfahren
PropertyValue
Headwordwiderfahren
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˌvidɐˈfaːʁən]
Letters11
Frequency rank#24,201
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „widerfahren“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).widerfahrenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Wetters“ (#24,200), „wiederherstellen“ (#24,202), „Westerwald“ (#24,199). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „widerfahren“ bei #24,201. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around widerfahren (IPA [ˌvidɐˈfaːʁən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #24,201 among 2,930 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "(jemandem) geschehen (besonders etwas Unausweichliches, scheinbar vom Schicksal Bestimmtes)".

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for widerfahren, with forms such as "iwderfahren", "wdierfahren", and "widderfahren". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "widerfährt", "weiterfahren", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is widerfahren, spelled W-I-D-E-R-F-A-H-R-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    (jemandem) geschehen (besonders etwas Unausweichliches, scheinbar vom Schicksal Bestimmtes)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Ich will jedoch dieſen Gegenſtand nicht verlaſſen, ohne noch einige Geſchichten zu erzaͤhlen, wie mancherley Unangenehmes mir von meinen Geſpielen begegnet: denn das iſt ja eben das Lehrreiche ſolcher ſittlichen Mittheilungen, daß der Menſch erfahre, wie es andern ergangen, und was auch er vom Leben zu erwarten habe, und daß er, es mag ſich ereignen was…
  2. „Er sprach nicht gerne von dem, was ihm im Konzentrationslager widerfahren war.“

This word in other languages

befall(English)ocurrir(Español)acontecer(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iwderfahren
  • wdierfahren
  • widderfahren
  • widefrahren
  • widerafhren
  • widerfahern
  • widerfahhren
  • widerfahrenn
  • widerfahrne
  • widerfahrren
  • widerfarhen
  • widerffahren
  • widerfharen
  • widerrfahren
  • widrefahren
  • wiedrfahren
  • wwiderfahren

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of widerfahren - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

iwderfahren2wdierfahren2widderfahren1widefrahren2widerafhren2widerfahern2widerfahhren1widerfahrenn1
Edit distance from "widerfahren"

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 "widerfahren"?
"widerfahren" is spelled W-I-D-E-R-F-A-H-R-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌvidɐˈfaːʁən].
What does "widerfahren" mean?
As a verb, "widerfahren" means: (jemandem) geschehen (besonders etwas Unausweichliches, scheinbar vom Schicksal Bestimmtes)
What words are commonly confused with "widerfahren"?
"widerfahren" is commonly confused with "widerfährt", "weiterfahren". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "widerfahren"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "widerfahren" is [ˌvidɐˈfaːʁən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "widerfahren" come from?
"widerfahren" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "widerfahren", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

wohlgemerkt#24,204wohlwollend#24,205zugestanden#24,214allerersten#24,230

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

verstrickt17 variantsunermüdlich17 variantsunbezahlbar17 variantsTelefonbuch17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list