21 December 2025
How do you say Heat in German?
When the sun beats down, your skin starts to sizzle, and everything slows to a sweaty crawl - Germans call it Hitze. It’s not just about temperature; it’s about intensity, pressure, and sometimes even emotion.
The noun Hitze means heat, especially extreme or uncomfortable heat, like summer heatwaves or feverish body temperature. It’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German, and it’s a staple of summer small talk, weather forecasts, and complaints on overheated trains.
It’s a feminine noun, so we say die Hitze.
Pronunciation
Hitze is pronounced [HIT-tsuh].
- The “i” is short, like in “hit,”
- The “tz” is crisp and sharp, and
- The final “e” is softly pronounced “uh,” like a gentle puff of air.
It’s a punchy word that hits fast - very much like a sudden heatwave.
Example sentences:
- Die Hitze ist heute kaum auszuhalten.The heat is unbearable today.
- Wegen der Hitze blieben viele zu Hause.Because of the heat, many stayed home.
Nuance and usage tips
Hitze is used primarily for:
- Weather:eine Hitzewelle - heatwavegroße Hitze - extreme heatbei dieser Hitze - in this kind of heat
- Bodily temperature:Fieberhitze - feverish heatHitzegefühl - sensation of heat
- Emotion or figurative intensity:in der Hitze des Gefechts - in the heat of the momenteine hitzige Debatte - a heated debate
Hitze often describes strong heat, including uncomfortable summer heat. It can also be neutral, as in cooking instructions; Wärme is warmth and also the technical term for heat.
A rough antonym is Kälte (feminine, die Kälte) - cold, especially uncomfortable cold.
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:Die Hitze machte das Arbeiten fast unmöglich.The heat made working nearly impossible.
- Accusative:Ich kann die Hitze nicht mehr ertragen.I can’t bear the heat anymore.
- Dative:Mit der Hitze kamen auch die Mücken.With the heat came the mosquitoes.
- Genitive:Wegen der Hitze wurden alle Fenster geöffnet.Because of the heat, all the windows were opened.
Feminine pattern: die, die, der, der
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- Hitzewelle - heatwave
- hitzefrei haben - to get time off because of the heat (common in schools!)
- hitzebedingt - heat-related
- Hitzeschlag - heatstroke
- Hitzestau - heat buildup (in a room or body)
Fun note: German schools may shorten classes or adjust schedules during excessive heat; this is called hitzefrei. Rules vary by state and school, rather than a single national temperature cutoff.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Hitze
🎥 Learn Hitze and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:Watch the 1000 German Nouns video course
Alternate translations note:If you’re talking about pleasant warmth or emotional warmth, the better German word might be Wärme. Meanwhile, Glut is used poetically for glowing, burning heat (like embers or inner passion), and Temperatur is temperature, measured in degrees; heat and temperature are distinct physical quantities. Choose Hitze when the heat is intense. To say you feel hot, say Mir ist heiß. Ich bin heiß can suggest being sexually aroused or eager for something, depending on context.
Ready for two more German words of the day? How about Ton or Versager?
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