What does “größenwahnsinnig” mean in German?

Titan-Titanic-Vergleich und Marspläne von Elon Musk

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B2 German listening practice · Standard German · Picked for people who know more

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größenwahnsinnig
German word for megalomaniac ambition
“megalomaniac,” literally “size-mad” — delusions of grandeur

Mocking billionaires' plans to visit Mars, this comedian calls such stunts größenwahnsinnige Expeditionen — “megalomaniac expeditions.” The adjective comes from Größenwahn, a compound of Größe (“size, greatness”) and Wahn (“delusion, madness”): literally “size-delusion.” It’s German’s blunt, memorable word for an inflated, almost pathological sense of one’s own importance or capability.

Größenwahn has been documented since the 19th century and is still the standard clinical and everyday term for megalomania, alongside near-synonyms like Gigantomanie. The joke in this clip works because it puts real astronauts' caution against the größenwahnsinnig confidence of billionaires chasing Mars or, earlier, the doomed Titan submersible — ambition with the delusion built right into the word.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this B2 German listening practice video?

85.7%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common German words
Most of the words in this video are common German words.

How common in written German

79.4%
Top 1,000
85.7%
Top 2,000
90.5%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken German

93.5%
Top 1,000
97.2%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000
👄 Words for talking
This video uses words people often say in German.

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than B2. Here is what they mean.

milliardäre
3×
Not in top 5,000
expeditionen
1×
Not in top 5,000
getaucht
1×
Not in top 5,000
dived
größenwahnsinnige Expeditionen
1×
megalomaniac ventures or missions

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-DE 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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