zögern

[ˈt͡søːɡɐn]

/[ˈt͡søːɡɐn]/ verb

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

The verdict

“zögern” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #10,785. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,785
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas aufschieben, nicht sofort tun

Corpus desk

Index DE-zogern · zögern · German

zögern · rank #10,785 · 9 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,785
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH ärgert

Nearest frequency peer: ärgert (+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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „zögern“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „zögern“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

zögern vs Zorn
33% similar
zögern vs Zügen
50% similar
zögern vs Zonen
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for zögern
PropertyValue
Headwordzögern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈt͡søːɡɐn]
Letters6
Frequency rank#10,785
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „zögern“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.zögernliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „ärgert“ (#10,786), „wilder“ (#10,783), „ökonomische“ (#10,787). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zögern“ bei #10,785. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around zögern (IPA [ˈt͡søːɡɐn]), averb. Corpus frequency is #10,785 among 1,996 “Z” headwords. Dominant gloss: "etwas aufschieben, nicht sofort tun".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for zögern, with forms such as "zgöern", "zzögern", and "zöegrn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "Zorn", "Zügen", "Zonen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is zögern, spelled Z-Ö-G-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas aufschieben, nicht sofort tun

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Er zögerte lange, ihr seine Liebe zu gestehen.

Synonyms

drucksenfackelnherumdrucksenzaudernzagen

Antonyms

beeilenanstehenkeine Zeit verlieren

This word in other languages

hesitate(English)dudar(Español)hésiter(Français)hesitar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • zgöern
  • zzögern
  • zöegrn
  • zögenr
  • zögernn
  • zögerrn
  • zöggern
  • zögren
  • özgern

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of zögern - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

zgöern2zzögern1zöegrn2zögenr2zögernn1zögerrn1zöggern1zögren2
Edit distance from "zögern"

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 "zögern"?
"zögern" is spelled Z-Ö-G-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡søːɡɐn].
What does "zögern" mean?
As a verb, "zögern" means: etwas aufschieben, nicht sofort tun
What words are commonly confused with "zögern"?
"zögern" is commonly confused with "Zorn", "Zügen", "Zonen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "zögern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zögern" is [ˈt͡søːɡɐn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zögern" come from?
"zögern" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "zögern", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ärgert#10,786wilder#10,783airbus#10,799Tattoo#10,756

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Birgit9 variantsSaturn9 variantsReichs9 variantsPerlen9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list