vocabulary
German words English doesn't have (and when to use them)
2026-10-01
Every language has gaps, and German is famous for filling them. Where English needs a whole sentence ("that feeling when you think of the perfect comeback hours too late"), German glues a few words together and calls it der Treppenwitz.
Strictly speaking, these words aren't untranslatable: you can explain every one of them in English, as we do below. What English lacks is the single, everyday word. And that's what makes them fun: once you know them, you start noticing the feelings they name everywhere.
Before you read the definitions, test your instincts. Each word gets ten seconds and three options, just like in our videos.
Guess the meaning
Ten German words, ten seconds each. Go with your gut.
- Kummerspeck: Weight gained from emotional eating. Literally "grief bacon": the pounds that come with a breakup and a freezer full of ice cream.
- Torschlusspanik: Panic that time is running out. Literally "gate-closing panic", from the days when city gates shut at night.
- Treppenwitz: The comeback you think of too late. Literally "staircase joke": the great line that hits you on your way out.
- Ohrwurm: A song stuck in your head. English borrowed this one as "earworm". In biology, an Ohrwurm is also an earwig.
- Verschlimmbesserung: An improvement that makes things worse. verschlimmern (to make worse) + verbessern (to improve). Every software update, ever.
- Kopfkino: Picturing a scene vividly in your mind. Literally "head cinema". Usually the anxious kind, sometimes the steamy kind.
- Backpfeifengesicht: A face that's asking to be slapped. Eine Backpfeife is a slap. Funny between friends, an insult to a stranger.
- Sitzfleisch: The patience to sit through something long. Literally "sitting meat". Kein Sitzfleisch haben means you can't sit still.
- Fremdschämen: Being embarrassed for someone else. fremd (other, foreign) + sich schämen (to be ashamed).
- Brückentag: A day off between a holiday and the weekend. The "bridge" between a Thursday holiday and the weekend. Germans plan their vacation days around them.
Why German has so many of these
German builds new words the way kids build with Lego. Kummer (grief) plus Speck (bacon) gives you der Kummerspeck. Tor (gate) plus Schluss (closing) plus Panik gives you die Torschlusspanik. Since any two nouns can be joined, German rarely needs a new root to name a new idea, and some of those combinations stick around for centuries.
English has quietly borrowed a few of the best ones. Kindergarten, angst, zeitgeist, wanderlust, doppelganger and schadenfreude are all in American dictionaries, and "earworm" is a direct translation of the German Ohrwurm. Fun twist: Germans themselves say Fernweh much more often than Wanderlust.
Here are 14 words worth knowing, with what they really mean and when Germans actually use them.
Feelings with no English word
das Fernweh
The opposite of Heimweh (homesickness): an ache for places you haven't been yet. You say Ich habe Fernweh when the travel bug bites, usually in February, usually while looking at flight prices.
die Vorfreude
The joy of looking forward to something. German has a saying for it: Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude, anticipation is the best kind of joy. English has "anticipation", but that word can just as easily be nervous. Vorfreude is always happy.
die Schadenfreude
Schaden (damage) plus Freude (joy): a little pleasure at someone else's misfortune. English adopted the word, but in German it's completely everyday. People admit to it with a grin: Ein bisschen Schadenfreude ist schon dabei. Keep it for small mishaps. Nobody likes the person who feels Schadenfreude about a real disaster.
das Fremdschämen
That full-body cringe you feel when someone else embarrasses themselves and doesn't notice. The verb is sich fremdschämen: Ich schäme mich fremd. It's hugely popular with younger Germans, and reality TV runs on it.
das Kopfkino
"Head cinema": when your imagination plays a scene so vividly you can almost watch it. Your boss writes "Can we talk tomorrow?" and the Kopfkino starts. Be aware that it's also used for the romantic or steamy kind of imagination, so context matters.
die Torschlusspanik
In the Middle Ages, city gates closed at night, and anyone still outside was stuck there. Today the word describes the panic that a door in life is closing: getting married, having kids, switching careers before "it's too late". It's a common, slightly teasing word: Hast du etwa Torschlusspanik?
Everyday life, named precisely
der Feierabend
The moment work ends and your own time begins, plus the evening itself. It's close to sacred in Germany. Colleagues say Schönen Feierabend! on their way out, and Feierabend machen means to call it a day. The word originally meant the evening before a holiday (Feier means celebration), which tells you how Germans feel about clocking out.
der Brückentag
A "bridge day" is a workday stuck between a public holiday and the weekend. Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) always falls on a Thursday, so the Friday after it is a classic Brückentag, and many offices are half empty. Germans plan their vacation days around these with real dedication.
das Sitzfleisch
"Sitting meat": the patience to sit still and push through something long and boring, like a thesis, a tax return or a five-hour meeting. If someone hat kein Sitzfleisch, they can't sit still for long.
der Ohrwurm
A song you can't get out of your head. Ich hab einen Ohrwurm is a sentence you'll need after your first German Christmas market. English speakers now say "earworm" too, thanks to this word.
Words for people and situations
der Kummerspeck
"Grief bacon": the weight you put on from emotional eating. It's affectionate and self-mocking, as in Ich habe mir Kummerspeck angefuttert (I put on some grief bacon). Use it about yourself, not about anyone else's body.
der Treppenwitz
"Staircase joke": the brilliant reply that comes to you on your way out the door. The idea comes from the French "esprit de l'escalier". German also uses ein Treppenwitz der Geschichte for an ironic twist of history.
die Verschlimmbesserung
A beautiful mash-up of verschlimmern (to make worse) and verbessern (to improve): a fix that breaks things. New app designs, "simplified" tax forms and that one coworker who reorganizes the shared drive all qualify.
das Backpfeifengesicht
A face that's just asking for a slap (eine Backpfeife). This one is rude. Between friends, about a smug celebrity, it's a joke. To someone's face, it's an insult, so keep it for your Kopfkino.
Now flip through all 14. Tap a card to see the meaning and an example sentence, and use the speaker button to hear it.
All 14 words
Tap a card to flip it. The speaker reads the word, or the example once the card is flipped.
- das Fernweh: A longing for faraway places, the opposite of homesickness Example: Jedes Mal, wenn ich ein Flugzeug sehe, bekomme ich Fernweh. (Every time I see a plane, I get itchy feet.)
- der Feierabend (plural: die Feierabende): The end of the workday, and the free evening that follows Example: Wann machst du heute Feierabend? (When are you done with work today?)
- die Schadenfreude: Pleasure at someone else's (small) misfortune Example: Als der Angeber in den Pool fiel, war ein bisschen Schadenfreude dabei. (When the show-off fell into the pool, there was a little Schadenfreude.)
- das Fremdschämen: Being embarrassed on someone else's behalf Example: Bei seiner Rede musste ich mich fremdschämen. (His speech gave me secondhand embarrassment.)
- der Ohrwurm (plural: die Ohrwürmer): A song you can't get out of your head Example: Dieses Lied ist ein echter Ohrwurm. (This song is a real earworm.)
- die Torschlusspanik: The panic that time is running out to do something big Example: Mit 39 bekam sie Torschlusspanik und lud drei Dating-Apps herunter. (At 39 she panicked about time running out and downloaded three dating apps.)
- der Kummerspeck: Weight gained from emotional eating (literally: grief bacon) Example: Nach der Trennung habe ich mir Kummerspeck angefuttert. (After the breakup I put on a few comfort-food pounds.)
- der Treppenwitz (plural: die Treppenwitze): The perfect comeback you only think of when it's too late Example: Die perfekte Antwort fiel mir erst zu Hause ein. Ein echter Treppenwitz. (The perfect reply only came to me at home. A real staircase joke.)
- die Verschlimmbesserung (plural: die Verschlimmbesserungen): An "improvement" that makes things worse Example: Das neue Update ist eine echte Verschlimmbesserung. (The new update is one of those improvements that make everything worse.)
- das Kopfkino: Picturing a scene so vividly it plays like a movie in your head Example: Bei der Nachricht "Wir müssen reden" ging sofort mein Kopfkino los. (When I got the text "We need to talk", my imagination went into overdrive.)
- die Vorfreude: The joy of looking forward to something Example: Die Vorfreude auf den Urlaub ist fast das Schönste daran. (Looking forward to the vacation is almost the best part.)
- der Brückentag (plural: die Brückentage): A workday squeezed between a holiday and the weekend, which many people take off Example: Am Brückentag ist das Büro fast leer. (On the bridge day the office is almost empty.)
- das Backpfeifengesicht (plural: die Backpfeifengesichter): A face that's just asking to be slapped (rude!) Example: Der Typ hat echt ein Backpfeifengesicht. (That guy has a seriously punchable face.)
- das Sitzfleisch: The patience to sit through something long and boring Example: Für eine Doktorarbeit braucht man vor allem Sitzfleisch. (To write a PhD thesis, above all you need staying power.)
How to use them without sounding like a dictionary
Dropping these words into conversation is a great way to make Germans smile, as long as you pick the right moment.
- Safe everywhere: Feierabend, Vorfreude, Brückentag, Ohrwurm and Fernweh are completely normal words. Use them at work, with your host family or with your barista.
- Casual: Kopfkino, Fremdschämen, Kummerspeck and Torschlusspanik are perfect with friends and colleagues you know well.
- Careful: Backpfeifengesicht is an insult. Schadenfreude is fine to admit, but not about anything serious.
One more tip: learn each word with its article. You'll say den Feierabend genießen (to enjoy the evening off) and mit Vorfreude, and the article changes with the case. If you want the full picture, our der/die/das guide shows how endings like -ung and -heit give the article away.
Ready for the hard part? This time you produce the German. Type the word with its article; we're lenient with capitals and with ae, oe, ue for ä, ö, ü.
Now say it in German
Read the meaning, type the German word with der, die or das.
- A song you can't get out of your head: der Ohrwurm
- The joy of looking forward to something: die Vorfreude
- A longing for faraway places: das Fernweh
- The end of the workday: der Feierabend
- Pleasure at someone else's misfortune: die Schadenfreude
- Weight gained from emotional eating: der Kummerspeck (Kummer (grief) + Speck (bacon))
Three bonus words
die Gemütlichkeit is warmth, coziness and a sense of belonging rolled into one: candles, a full table, good company and nowhere to be. A café, a living room or a Christmas market can be gemütlich, and so can a person.
der Zugzwang comes from chess: you're forced to make a move, and every move makes things worse. English borrowed it, but in German it's an everyday word for any situation where you have to act, like Jetzt sind wir unter Zugzwang (now we're under pressure to act).
der Weltschmerz ("world pain") is the heavy, slightly dramatic sadness about the state of the world. Germans use it with a wink, about rainy Sundays as much as about philosophy.
Where to go from here
These words are the fun end of German vocabulary. For the everyday end, our phrase lists collect the short sentences Germans use all day, like Feierabend! and Passt schon, with audio. If you're looking for words that make you sound educated, the C2 list has gems like das Fingerspitzengefühl (fingertip feeling: a sure instinct for delicate situations).
And when you meet a new word you like, look it up in our dictionary and save it straight to your word library. That's how a list of curiosities turns into vocabulary you actually use.
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