zerschmettern

[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃmɛtɐn]

/[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃmɛtɐn]/ verb

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

The verdict

“zerschmettern” is uncommon German (frequency #78,788 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,788
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mit Wucht zerschlagen, mit großem Krach zertrümmern

Corpus desk

Index DE-zerschmettern · zerschmettern · German

zerschmettern · rank #78,788 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #78,788
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH zerhackt

Nearest frequency peer: zerhackt (-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 „zerschmettern“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for zerschmettern
PropertyValue
Headwordzerschmettern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃmɛtɐn]
Letters13
Frequency rank#78,788
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „zerschmettern“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).zerschmetternfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „zerhackt“ (#78,787), „Ziemer“ (#78,789), „Zeltes“ (#78,786). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zerschmettern“ bei #78,788. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

zerschmettern is uncommon German at frequency #78,788 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃmɛtɐn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for zerschmettern, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is zerschmettern, spelled Z-E-R-S-C-H-M-E-T-T-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    mit Wucht zerschlagen, mit großem Krach zertrümmern
  2. 2
    emotional beunruhigen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Einbrecher zerschmetterten mit einem großen Stein die Fensterscheibe.
  2. „Dann ob schon die Schiffer in wehrendem Sturm nicht wissen / wann die Wellen sich legen / vnd die Winde auffhören sollen / so ist doch dem Jupiter nicht vnwissend / ob er das Schiff zerschmettern oder erhalten wil.“

Synonyms

zerdeppernzertrümmernerschüttern

This word in other languages

smash(English)fracasser(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 "zerschmettern"?
"zerschmettern" is spelled Z-E-R-S-C-H-M-E-T-T-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃmɛtɐn].
What does "zerschmettern" mean?
As a verb, "zerschmettern" means: mit Wucht zerschlagen, mit großem Krach zertrümmern
How do you pronounce "zerschmettern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zerschmettern" is [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈʃmɛtɐn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zerschmettern" come from?
"zerschmettern" 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 "zerschmettern", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

zurückschauen#78,799zusammenkamen#78,802Zusicherungen#78,803Zweitwohnsitz#78,806

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list