zugzwang

\tsukts.vaŋ\

/\tsukts.vaŋ\/ noun

The verdict

“zugzwang” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. 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) - Position dans laquelle le joueur qui a le trait est contraint de jouer un coup qui dégrade sa position et tel qu’il serait plus avantageux de pouvoir passer son tour, ce que les règles du jeu ne pe...

Corpus desk

Index FR-zugzwang · zugzwang · French

zugzwang · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "Z" 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 zugzwang
PropertyValue
Headwordzugzwang
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\tsukts.vaŋ\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « zugzwang » en français

zugzwangreste 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

zugzwang is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \tsukts.vaŋ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Position dans laquelle le joueur qui a le trait est contraint de jouer un coup qui dégrade sa position et tel qu’il serait plus avantageux de pouvoir passer son tour, ce que les règles du jeu ne pe...".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for zugzwang, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is zugzwang, spelled Z-U-G-Z-W-A-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Position dans laquelle le joueur qui a le trait est contraint de jouer un coup qui dégrade sa position et tel qu’il serait plus avantageux de pouvoir passer son tour, ce que les règles du jeu ne permettent pas.

This word in other languages

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 "zugzwang"?
"zugzwang" is spelled Z-U-G-Z-W-A-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is \tsukts.vaŋ\.
What does "zugzwang" mean?
As a noun, "zugzwang" means: Position dans laquelle le joueur qui a le trait est contraint de jouer un coup qui dégrade sa position et tel qu’il serait plus avantageux de pouvoir passer son tour, ce que les règles du jeu ne pe...
How do you pronounce "zugzwang"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zugzwang" is \tsukts.vaŋ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zugzwang" come from?
"zugzwang" 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