zerfleddern
German, verb
zerfleddern is spelled Z-E-R-F-L-E-D-D-E-R-N (11 letters) and appears about once in every 48 million words in written German, the 417,697th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zerfleddern is a German verb meaning “to damage something delicate, chiefly a book or piece of paper, by handling it uncarefully; to tatter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Zerfleddern is a different word: “gerund of zerfleddern”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “zerreißen und abnützen durch häufigen oder sorglosen Gebrauch, meist in Verbindung mit Papier”.
What does zerfleddern mean in English?
verb
- 1
to damage something delicate, chiefly a book or piece of paper, by handling it uncarefully; to tatter
Auf dem Flohmarkt habe ich ein zerfleddertes Buch gefunden, das mich inhaltlich interessierte.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of zerfleddern
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. zerreißen und abnützen durch häufigen oder sorglosen Gebrauch, meist in Verbindung mit Papier
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 zerfleddern
- zerfleddert present singular third-person
- zerfledderte past
- haben auxiliary
- zerfleddernd participle present
- zerfleddre first-person indicative present
- zerfleddere first-person indicative present
- zerfledder first-person indicative present
- zerfledderst indicative present second-person
- zerfledderest second-person singular subjunctive
- zerfleddrest second-person singular subjunctive
- zerfledderet plural second-person subjunctive
- zerfleddret plural second-person subjunctive
- zerfledderten first-person indicative plural
- zerfleddertest indicative preterite second-person
- zerfleddertet indicative plural preterite
- zerfledern variant
- zerfleddere! imperative singular
- zerfleddert! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is zerfleddern in German?
zerfleddern appears about once in every 48 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).