worry

[ˈwʌri]

/[ˈwʌri]/ verb

The verdict

“worry” is uncommon German (frequency #69,910 among 2,930 “W” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,910
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - quälen, plagen, peinigen, heruntermachen

Corpus desk

Index DE-worry · worry · German

worry · rank #69,910 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #69,910
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH worm

Nearest frequency peer: worm (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „worry“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „worry“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for worry
PropertyValue
Headwordworry
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈwʌri]
Letters5
Frequency rank#69,910
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „worry“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.worryfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „worm“ (#69,909), „wählbaren“ (#69,911), „Wolkenstein“ (#69,908). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „worry“ bei #69,910. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

worry is uncommon German at frequency #69,910 among 2,930 “W” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈwʌri]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for worry in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is worry, spelled W-O-R-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    quälen, plagen, peinigen, heruntermachen
  2. 2
    überarbeiten, abquälen
  3. 3
    sich Sorgen machen, besorgt sein

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. "She tried to worry that something terrible had happened to him, but didn't believe it for a moment."

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 "worry"?
"worry" is spelled W-O-R-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈwʌri].
What does "worry" mean?
As a verb, "worry" means: quälen, plagen, peinigen, heruntermachen
How do you pronounce "worry"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "worry" is [ˈwʌri]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "worry" come from?
"worry" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "worry", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list