Zweifel

[ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩]

/[ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩]/ noun

The verdict

“Zweifel” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #1,868. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,868
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - inneres Schwanken; Unsicherheit in Bezug auf Vertrauen, Taten, Entscheidungen, Glauben oder Behauptungen beziehungsweise Vermutung von Tatsachen

Corpus desk

Index DE-zweifel · Zweifel · German

Zweifel · rank #1,868 · 9 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,868
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ziele

Nearest frequency peer: Ziele (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “Zweifel”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Zweifel” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

Zweifel vs zweite
57% similar
Zweifel vs Zweige
71% similar
Zweifel vs zweiten
57% similar

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

Key facts for Zweifel
PropertyValue
HeadwordZweifel
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩]
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,868
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “Zweifel” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Zweifelliegt hier:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Ziele“ (#1,867), „Alkohol“ (#1,869), „Verhältnis“ (#1,866). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Zweifel (IPA [ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,868 among 1,996 “Z” headwords. Dominant gloss: "inneres Schwanken; Unsicherheit in Bezug auf Vertrauen, Taten, Entscheidungen, Glauben oder Behauptungen beziehungsweise Vermutung von Tatsachen".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Zweifel, with forms such as "wzeifel", "zewifel", and "zwefiel". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "zweite", "Zweige", "zweiten", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Zweifel, spelled Z-W-E-I-F-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    inneres Schwanken; Unsicherheit in Bezug auf Vertrauen, Taten, Entscheidungen, Glauben oder Behauptungen beziehungsweise Vermutung von Tatsachen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Das sind unbegründete Zweifel.
  2. Als er das hörte, kamen ihm Zweifel an ihrer Aufrichtigkeit.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • wzeifel
  • zewifel
  • zwefiel
  • zweiefl
  • zweifell
  • zweiffel
  • zwiefel
  • zwweifel
  • zzweifel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Zweifel - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

wzeifel2zewifel2zwefiel2zweiefl2zweifell1zweiffel1zwiefel2zwweifel1
Edit distance from "Zweifel"

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 "Zweifel"?
"Zweifel" is spelled Z-W-E-I-F-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩].
What does "Zweifel" mean?
As a noun, "Zweifel" means: inneres Schwanken; Unsicherheit in Bezug auf Vertrauen, Taten, Entscheidungen, Glauben oder Behauptungen beziehungsweise Vermutung von Tatsachen
What words are commonly confused with "Zweifel"?
"Zweifel" is commonly confused with "zweite", "Zweige", "zweiten". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Zweifel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Zweifel" is [ˈt͡svaɪ̯fl̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Zweifel" come from?
"Zweifel" 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 "Zweifel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

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

What to do next

You've looked up "Zweifel". Here's where to go from here.

  • "Zweifel" maps to 14 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "zweite". View pair
  • 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #1,868 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "Z" letter cohort. Z–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list