kacken
What does “kacken” mean in English?
It means to crap or take a shit. It's a straightforward term for defecation.
Literally “defecate”
You'd use it like you would 'shit' in English, often in a casual or humorous context. It's not particularly strong, more of a blunt description than an insult.
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Related German words
Kacke
2/5 · CoarseIt means crap, often used to describe something of poor quality. The literal translation is excrement, but it's not as harsh as other terms for shit.
Kackwurst
2/5 · CoarseIt's a coarse term for a turd, often used as a childish insult. Think of it as calling someone a 'shit sausage.'
Kackstelze
3/5 · VulgarIt's a comedic insult for someone unpleasant, akin to calling someone a 'dick' in English. Literally, it translates to 'shit stilt,' but that doesn't quite capture its playful tone.
brunzen
2/5 · CoarseIt means to urinate, specifically in a coarse regional sense. It's a more casual way to say 'piss' in certain German-speaking areas.
About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via LDNOOBW, Viddexa SafeText (CC-BY-4.0, MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.