peinlich
\ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪç\
The verdict
“peinlich” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Gênant, embarrassant.
Corpus desk
Index FR-peinlich · peinlich · French
peinlich · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | peinlich |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪç\ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « peinlich » en français
Rare enough to double-check
peinlich is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪç\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Gênant, embarrassant.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for peinlich, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is peinlich, spelled P-E-I-N-L-I-C-H.
Definition
- 1Gênant, embarrassant.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how peinlich appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Es ist so peinlich, mit Detlef wegzugehen. Er kann es nicht unterlassen, im Restaurant allen Frauen in den Ausschnitt zu schielen.
Detlef hat die Weinflasche unvorsichtig entkorkt, weswegen jetzt Korkstückchen im Weinglas seiner Angebeteten herumschwimmen. Wie peinlich!
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.