Swiss German

Swiss German proper noun: the varieties of Alemannic German spoken in Switzerland.

Proper noun

Swiss German

The varieties of Alemannic German spoken in Switzerland.
- Today, it is probably true to say that both varieties have positive prestige but for different reasons and to differing extents: attitudes to Swiss German, as the unifying vernacular that gives the German-Swiss their identity, are positive in every respect, while Swiss standard German enjoys...1990, Stephen Barbour, Patrick Stevenson, Variation in German: A Critical Approach to German Sociolinguistics, page 213
- We do not intend this book to serve as a complete course in Swiss German; rather, it serves as a supplement to those studying the language in a more formal way.2004, Harald Fuchs, Paul G. Schreier, Züritüütsch isch aifach schön, page xi
(broadly) Any local form of the German language used in Switzerland; Swiss Standard German.

Swiss German (plural Swiss Germans)

Swiss German (comparative more Swiss German, superlative most Swiss German)

Pertaining to the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
Of or relating to one or all of the languages.
- Two years ago, there was an uproar in the local media after Coop ran an advertising campaign that used the High German word for "to barbecue", grillen, rather than the Swiss German grillieren.2014 February 14, Philip Oltermann, The Guardian

What does Swiss German mean?: Swiss German means the varieties of Alemannic German spoken in Switzerland.
What part of speech is Swiss German?: Swiss German can be a proper noun, a noun or an adjective.

Adapted from Wiktionary: Swiss German (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “Swiss German.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/swiss_german. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.