der Zugzwang

Plural: die not used in plural

Based on: Zug, Zwang

"the compulsion to make a move": (A position or situation where you MUST make a move even though you don't want to. Mainly used in the phrasings "in Zugzwang bringen" or "in Zugzwang sein".)

Word Family

Knowing relations between words can help understand their meanings and build a more connected vocabulary network. Here, you can explore parents and offspring and discover the whole family.

shows how many children or parents the word has
get the translations and a link

Loading word family…

Sources for Etymology:

Check "zugzwang" on DWDS.de
Biggest German Dictionary, great for etymology, usage frequency and collocations)
"zugzwang" on Wiktionary (English version)
(For etymological connections across European languages. Not always accurate)
Etymonline.com - Origins of English words
My favorite source for the origin of English words.

Questions and Comments

Do you have questions about the usage or meaning of “Zugzwang”? Just ask here and I’ll try to clear it up.

2 Comments

Newest

Oldest

sotiris

There’s also: unter Zugzwang stehen

Is in Zugzwang sein more common?

Last edited 2 years ago by sotiris

Author

Emanuel

Reply to sotiris

According to ngram, they’re pretty close with “unter Zugzwang” having a slight edge.

I’d say “unter Zugzwang stehen” is more common overall so if you want to only pick one, then that’s the one to go with.

How many meanings does the German word 'Zugzwang' have?

Zugzwang has 1 distinct meaning: 1. "the compulsion to make a move".

What is the gender of 'Zugzwang'?

der

What is the plural of 'Zugzwang'?

die not used in plural

What is 'Zugzwang' related to?

The word 'Zugzwang' is related to Zug and Zwang.

Where can I learn more about 'Zugzwang'?

Check out the main YourDailyGerman Dictionary for more German vocabulary entries.