fürchterlich

\ˈfyr.çtɐ.lɪç\

/\ˈfyr.çtɐ.lɪç\/ adj

The verdict

“fürchterlich” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Terrible, effrayant, effrayante.

Corpus desk

Index FR-furchterlich · fürchterlich · French

fürchterlich · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for fürchterlich
PropertyValue
Headwordfürchterlich
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ˈfyr.çtɐ.lɪç\
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « fürchterlich » en français

fürchterlichreste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fürchterlich is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ˈfyr.çtɐ.lɪç\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Terrible, effrayant, effrayante.".

fürchterlich doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is fürchterlich, spelled F-Ü-R-C-H-T-E-R-L-I-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Terrible, effrayant, effrayante.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sein Aussehen war fürchterlich.
  2. Wir hatten (den Verunglückten) hinaus auf eine Bank getragen, und nun lag er da in diesem fürchterlichen Licht der schon untergegangenen Sonne, das von übereinander geschichteten Wolkenbänken sandigrot niederstrahlte. Der Anblick, den der Verunglückte bot, war beängstigend.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fürchterlich"?
"fürchterlich" is spelled F-Ü-R-C-H-T-E-R-L-I-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈfyr.çtɐ.lɪç\.
What does "fürchterlich" mean?
As an adjective, "fürchterlich" means: Terrible, effrayant, effrayante.
How do you pronounce "fürchterlich"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fürchterlich" is \ˈfyr.çtɐ.lɪç\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fürchterlich" come from?
"fürchterlich" is a French 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list