German has a superpower: it stacks words together like building blocks to create new, wonderfully specific nouns. Ever seen a word like Handschuh and wondered what on earth a ‘hand shoe’ is? Spoiler: it’s a glove. Once you see the logic, these compound nouns go from intimidating to fascinating.
This list rounds up about 200 everyday German compound nouns-not the five-syllable monsters that only appear in legal documents, but the ones you’ll actually hear in conversation, read on signs, or need when you’re fumbling for the right word. Each entry comes with a plain-English meaning and a natural example sentence so you can see how the word behaves in the wild.
Ready to meet the wonderfully long words that German loves to stitch together? Scroll to the bottom of the article for the free printable German compound nouns vocabulary list PDF and the free downloadable printable German compound nouns flashcards.
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Quick Quiz
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Browse the Full List
| Word | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Sensation | Other | sensation |
| Sergeant | Other | sergeant |
| Signal | Other | signal |
| Sportplatz | Other | sports field, playing field |
| staatlich | Adjective | state, State, government, governmental |
| Stecker | Other | plug |
| Steig | Other | narrow path |
| stopp | Other | stop! |
| stumpf | Adjective | blunt, dull |
| trauen | Verb | marry, wed |
| treten | Verb | kick |
| tritt | Other | footstep, footfall |
| übel | Adjective | bad, nasty |
| überrascht | Adjective | surprised |
| übersetzt | Adjective | excessive |
| üblich | Adjective | usual, customary, normal |
| umgehend | Other | immediate |
| unprofessionell | Adjective | unprofessional |
| Urgroßvater | Other | great-grandfather |
| Van | Other | MPV, people carrier |
| veranstalten | Verb | organize -s- |
| verbrechen | Verb | to be up to... |
| Verdienst | Other | earnings |
| verhaftet | Adjective | arrested, apprehended, under arrest |
| Vermisste | Other | missing person |
Free German Compound Nouns PDF and Flashcards to Download
Grab the purple vocab-list button for the German compound nouns vocabulary list and the teal flashcards button for the German compound nouns flashcards. Both downloads are 100% free and require no signup.
