Whether it’s the weight of responsibility, a finger on a button, or ink on a page—Germans call it Druck. It’s a small word with serious force behind it, both literally and figuratively.
The noun Druck means pressure, printing, or force, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. It shows up in science, emotions, social situations, and technology.
It’s a masculine noun, so we say der Druck.
Pronunciation
Druck is pronounced [drook], rhyming with “book,” but with a harder d and k.
- The “u” is short and round,
- And the whole word lands with weight—just like what it describes.
Example sentences:
- Der Druck auf die Regierung wächst.
The pressure on the government is increasing. - Dieser Drucker liefert einen sehr guten Druck.
This printer produces a very good print.
Nuance and usage tips
Druck has two core meanings:
- Pressure / stress / force
- unter Druck stehen – to be under pressure
- Druck ausüben – to apply pressure (on a person or situation)
- Luftdruck – air pressure
- Print / printing
- Buchdruck – book printing
- Farbdruck – color print
- ein schöner Druck – a nice (printed) picture or copy
Its antonym depends on meaning:
- For pressure: Entspannung (relaxation, feminine)
- For print: perhaps Original (original, as in artwork)
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:
Der Druck war kaum auszuhalten.
The pressure was almost unbearable. - Accusative:
Ich habe den Druck nicht gespürt.
I didn’t feel the pressure. - Dative:
Mit dem Druck kam auch die Angst.
With the pressure came fear. - Genitive:
Wegen des Drucks brach sie zusammen.
Because of the pressure, she broke down.
Masculine case pattern: der, den, dem, des
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- ausdrucken – to print out
- Drucker – printer (the machine)
- Blutdruck – blood pressure
- Druckmittel – means of pressure/leverage
- Hochdruck – high pressure
- Druckempfindlich – pressure-sensitive
Fun linguistic note:
The verb drucken (to print) and drücken (to push/press) are closely related, and learners often confuse them.
- Druck (noun) connects to both meanings!
- Physical force → Druck ausüben
- Printed copy → einen schönen Druck kaufen
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Druck
🎥 Learn Druck and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/
Alternate translations note:
For stress in a more emotional sense, Stress (borrowed from English) is also used in German. But for physical, political, or general pressure—and anything printing-related—Druck is your word.
Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Falle means? How about Firma? Find out!