zerfetzen

[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈfɛt͡sn̩]

/[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈfɛt͡sn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“zerfetzen” is uncommon German (frequency #91,182 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,182
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas Ganzes in mehrere kleinere Stücke (Fetzen) teilen (und so zerstören)

Corpus desk

Index DE-zerfetzen · zerfetzen · German

zerfetzen · rank #91,182 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,182
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH Zensoren

Nearest frequency peer: Zensoren (-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 „zerfetzen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for zerfetzen
PropertyValue
Headwordzerfetzen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈfɛt͡sn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#91,182
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „zerfetzen“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).zerfetzenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Zensoren“ (#91,181), „zertifizieren“ (#91,183), „Zementfabrik“ (#91,180). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zerfetzen“ bei #91,182. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

zerfetzen is uncommon German at frequency #91,182 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈfɛt͡sn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for zerfetzen, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is zerfetzen, spelled Z-E-R-F-E-T-Z-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas Ganzes in mehrere kleinere Stücke (Fetzen) teilen (und so zerstören)
  2. 2
    in negativem Sinne kritisieren (und schlecht bewerten)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Die Explosion einer Sprengfalle zerfetzte seinen Arm.“
  2. „Der Künstler muss riskieren, von Kritikern und der Öffentlichkeit zerfetzt zu werden, und dennoch weitermachen wollen.“

Synonyms

auseinanderreißenzerreißenverreißenzerpflücken

Antonyms

zusammenfügenzusammensetzen

This word in other languages

shred(English)despedazar(Español)déchirer(Français)

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 "zerfetzen"?
"zerfetzen" is spelled Z-E-R-F-E-T-Z-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈfɛt͡sn̩].
What does "zerfetzen" mean?
As a verb, "zerfetzen" means: etwas Ganzes in mehrere kleinere Stücke (Fetzen) teilen (und so zerstören)
How do you pronounce "zerfetzen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zerfetzen" is [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈfɛt͡sn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zerfetzen" come from?
"zerfetzen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "zerfetzen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

zeitloser#91,178Zehdenick#91,176zugedreht#91,190Worcester#91,166

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list