glätten

to straighten, smooth hair or skin

verb GLET-ten Rare

Usage Note

Glätten means to make flat and smooth — die Haare glätten = to straighten the hair with a flat iron. Also used for ironing out skin wrinkles in cosmetics copy.

Examples

"Sie glättet ihre Haare jeden Morgen mit dem Haarglätter."

Natural Translation

She straightens her hair every morning with the hair straightener.

Literal Translation

She straightens her hair every morning with the hair straightener.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore German by topic

GermanNow

German Adjective Endings Made Simple

German adjective endings come down to one question, not three tables: does the article already show gender and case? If yes, the adjective stays lazy.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

Bitte in German: Please, You're Welcome, and More

Bitte means please, you're welcome, here you go, and pardon in German. Learn all the meanings, bitte schön vs bitte sehr, and the danke-bitte rule.

June 5, 2026 5 min read

GermanNow

Weil vs Denn vs Da: "Because" in German

Weil and da send the verb to the end; denn keeps it in second position. Here's how to pick the right German "because" and place the verb correctly.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Compound Words: How to Read Any Long Word

Read any long German word by working right-to-left: the last noun sets the meaning and gender, and the small linking letters are just glue. Here's the drill.

June 9, 2026 6 min read