zündeln

[ˈt͡sʏndl̩n]

/[ˈt͡sʏndl̩n]/ verb

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

The verdict

“zündeln” is uncommon German (frequency #89,881 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,881
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - leichtsinnig mit Feuer spielen

Corpus desk

Index DE-zundeln · zündeln · German

zündeln · rank #89,881 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,881
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH Zünften

Nearest frequency peer: Zünften (+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 „zündeln“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for zündeln
PropertyValue
Headwordzündeln
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈt͡sʏndl̩n]
Letters7
Frequency rank#89,881
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „zündeln“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Zünften“ (#89,882), „zürn“ (#89,883), „zweitälteste“ (#89,878). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zündeln“ bei #89,881. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

zündeln is uncommon German at frequency #89,881 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈt͡sʏndl̩n]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "leichtsinnig mit Feuer spielen".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for zündeln, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is zündeln, spelled Z-Ü-N-D-E-L-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    leichtsinnig mit Feuer spielen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Im Stroh zu zündeln ist sehr, sehr gefährlich.
  2. Kindern zündeln gerne heimlich.

Synonyms

kokelnzeuselnzünseln

This word in other languages

play with fire(English)jugar con fuego(Español)jouer avec le feu(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 "zündeln"?
"zündeln" is spelled Z-Ü-N-D-E-L-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡sʏndl̩n].
What does "zündeln" mean?
As a verb, "zündeln" means: leichtsinnig mit Feuer spielen
How do you pronounce "zündeln"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zündeln" is [ˈt͡sʏndl̩n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zündeln" come from?
"zündeln" 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 "zündeln", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Zünften#89,882Ärmchen#89,885adulten#89,912Aramäer#89,941

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list