sprachgefühl

noun

The instinctive or intuitive grasp of the natural idiom of a language.

OriginGerman Sprachgefühl →
First used 20th c.
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Meanings

sprachgefühl1

nounsprachgefühl (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of Sprachgefühl.

Sprachgefühl2

nounSprachgefühl (uncountable)

alternative sprachgefuhl · alternative sprachgefühl

  1. uncountableThe instinctive or intuitive grasp of the natural idiom of a language.First known use 20th c.

    Not everyone has sprachgefühl, and you don't know if you are possessed of it until you are knee-deep in the English language, trying your best to navigate the murky swamp of it.

    2017, Kory Stamper, Word By Word, Vintage, published 2018, page 15

Origin

  1. GermanSprachgefühl
  2. EnglishSprachgefühl

Unadapted borrowing from German Sprachgefühl.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 語感 /语感
  • 語感 /语感 (yǔgǎn)the instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Dutch taalgevoel
  • taalgevoelthe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Esperanto lingvosento
  • lingvosentothe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Finnish kielikorva
  • kielikorvathe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
German Sprachgefühl
  • Sprachgefühlthe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Hungarian nyelvérzék
  • nyelvérzékthe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Japanese 語感
  • 語感 (gokan)the instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Korean 어감
  • 어감 (eogam)the instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Norwegian Bokmål språkøre, språkfølelse
  • språkørethe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
  • språkfølelsethe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Polish poczucie językowe, intuicja językowa
  • poczucie językowethe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
  • intuicja językowathe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
  • wyczucie językowethe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Russian чу́вство языка́, языково́е чутьё
  • чу́вство языка́ (čúvstvo jazyká)the instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
  • языково́е чутьё (jazykovóje čutʹjó)the instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Spanish intuición lingüística
  • intuición lingüísticathe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Swedish språkkänsla
  • språkkänslathe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Vietnamese ngữ cảm
  • ngữ cảmthe instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Yiddish שפּראַכגעפֿיל
  • שפּראַכגעפֿיל (shprakhgefil)the instinctive or intuitive grasp of a language
Cite this entry
APA

sprachgefühl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sprachgef%C3%BChl

MLA

“sprachgefühl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sprachgef%C3%BChl. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sprachgefühl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sprachgef%C3%BChl.

Source: sprachgefühl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.