zermürben

to wear down mentally

verb tser-MÜER-ben Rare

Also means

to grind down

Usage Note

Zermürben describes the process of eroding someone's mental resistance or resolve through persistent pressure. Einen Gegner zermürben (to wear down an opponent) is common in sports, negotiations, and personal relationships.

Examples

"Die langen Wartezeiten zermürbten die Antragsteller."

Natural Translation

The long waiting times wore down the applicants mentally.

Literal Translation

The long waiting-times ground-down the applicants.

Related Words

Explore German by topic

GermanNow

Der, Die, Das: Rules to Guess German Gender

German noun gender rules made simple: check the suffix first, then meaning. Endings like -ung, -chen, and -ling predict der, die, or das with ~90% accuracy.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Days, Months & Seasons (am, im & -tag)

Days of the week in German use am, months and seasons use im — plus the -tag pattern, capitalized nouns, and how to build a real sentence with a day.

June 5, 2026 4 min read

GermanNow

German Two-Way Prepositions: Accusative or Dative?

Use accusative for movement into a place (wohin?) and dative for a fixed location (wo?). Master all nine German two-way prepositions with one simple test.

June 9, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Greetings by Region: Grüß Gott to Grüezi

German greetings change by region: say Moin in Hamburg, Grüß Gott in Bavaria, Grüezi in Switzerland. A map of every hello and goodbye, plus du vs. Sie.

June 5, 2026 6 min read