zwinkern

[ˈt͡svɪŋkɐn]

/[ˈt͡svɪŋkɐn]/ verb

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

The verdict

“zwinkern” is uncommon German (frequency #93,883 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,883
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein Auge bewusst für einen kleinen Moment schließen, meist um jemand anderem ein geheimes Zeichen zu geben

Corpus desk

Index DE-zwinkern · zwinkern · German

zwinkern · rank #93,883 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #93,883
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH zustimmst

Nearest frequency peer: zustimmst (-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 „zwinkern“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for zwinkern
PropertyValue
Headwordzwinkern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈt͡svɪŋkɐn]
Letters8
Frequency rank#93,883
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „zwinkern“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).zwinkernfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „zustimmst“ (#93,882), „zusammenlebt“ (#93,881), „zwischengelagert“ (#93,885). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zwinkern“ bei #93,883. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

zwinkern is uncommon German at frequency #93,883 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈt͡svɪŋkɐn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

zwinkern doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is zwinkern, spelled Z-W-I-N-K-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    ein Auge bewusst für einen kleinen Moment schließen, meist um jemand anderem ein geheimes Zeichen zu geben
  2. 2
    beide Augen oftmals aus nervösen Gründen kurz schließen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Unser neuer Lehrer ist ja ein ganz Schlauer“, meinte sie zwinkernd zu ihren Mitschülern.
  2. Kannst du mit dem Auge zwinkern, ohne den Mund dabei zu verziehen?

Synonyms

blinzeln

This word in other languages

blink(English)guiñar(Español)ciller(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 "zwinkern"?
"zwinkern" is spelled Z-W-I-N-K-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡svɪŋkɐn].
What does "zwinkern" mean?
As a verb, "zwinkern" means: ein Auge bewusst für einen kleinen Moment schließen, meist um jemand anderem ein geheimes Zeichen zu geben
How do you pronounce "zwinkern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zwinkern" is [ˈt͡svɪŋkɐn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zwinkern" come from?
"zwinkern" 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 "zwinkern", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

abfedern#93,894Zerrbild#93,869abringen#93,905abzweigt#93,912

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list