widerstreben

[viːdɐˈʃtʁeːbn̩]

/[viːdɐˈʃtʁeːbn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“widerstreben” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eine Ablehnung/Widerstand spüren, etwas zu tun, weil dies der inneren Überzeugung, den eigenen Wertmaßstäben oder Zielen widerspricht

Corpus desk

Index DE-widerstreben · widerstreben · German

widerstreben · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "W" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for widerstreben
PropertyValue
Headwordwiderstreben
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[viːdɐˈʃtʁeːbn̩]
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „widerstreben“ im Deutschen

widerstrebenschafft es nicht in die Top 100.000 des Deutschen: Zone für Fach-, Alt- oder Seltenwortschatz.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

widerstreben is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [viːdɐˈʃtʁeːbn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

widerstreben has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is widerstreben, spelled W-I-D-E-R-S-T-R-E-B-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine Ablehnung/Widerstand spüren, etwas zu tun, weil dies der inneren Überzeugung, den eigenen Wertmaßstäben oder Zielen widerspricht
  2. 2
    sich nicht fügen wollen, sich widersetzen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Es widerstrebte mir, ihn auszufragen, aber ebenso widerstrebte es mir, überhaupt nichts zu sagen.“
  2. „Zu diesem Verständnis von Doctrina passt dann auch die Botschaft, dass, was dieser Lehre widerstrebe, auch dem Heil der Menschen widerstrebe.“

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "widerstreben"?
"widerstreben" is spelled W-I-D-E-R-S-T-R-E-B-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [viːdɐˈʃtʁeːbn̩].
What does "widerstreben" mean?
As a verb, "widerstreben" means: eine Ablehnung/Widerstand spüren, etwas zu tun, weil dies der inneren Überzeugung, den eigenen Wertmaßstäben oder Zielen widerspricht
How do you pronounce "widerstreben"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "widerstreben" is [viːdɐˈʃtʁeːbn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "widerstreben" come from?
"widerstreben" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list