Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by Danes, the people of Denmark. Like Norwegian words and Swedish words, Danish words are peculiar to their culture, meaning you won’t find them in English. Here’s a round-up of the beautiful Danish words that have no translation.
If you feel like wandering through more words, all my word lists, across languages and themes, live together in the WORDS section on Wordista.
Beautiful Danish Words
Here are some of the cool words in Danish that you can try out in conversation and impress people 🙂
Let’s start with how to say hello in Danish!
Hej (n.)
Pronunciation: hi
Meaning: Hi, Hello
Hej is the most commonly used casual greeting in Danish. You can use it in any situation and with anyone, from strangers to friends. Hej Hej means goodbye in Danish.
Speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabilliseringsperiode
Pronunciation: speciallæge-praksisplanlægnings-stabiliseringsperiode
Meaning: Literally translates to a period of stabilizing the planning of a specialist doctor’s practice
Made up of 51 letters, it’s the longest word in Danish!
Hygge (n.)
Pronunciation: hue-gah
Meaning: An atmosphere of warmth, well-being, and coziness when you feel at peace and able to enjoy simple pleasures and being in the moment.
Scandinavian countries enjoy the simple pleasures in life. They all have a word to define the simple joys. Danish have hygge, Swedish have mys, Norwegians have kos, and Finns have kalsarikannit 🙂
Hygge has gained so much popularity worldwide that the Danish word was added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in 2017.
Lykke (n.)
Pronunciation: loo-kah
Meaning: Deep happiness or genuine contentment that comes from living well, not from momentary excitement.
In Danish thinking, happiness is measured less by highs and more by steadiness. Lykke lives in balance, shared moments, and everyday ease.
The word often appears in studies and discussions about Denmark, which consistently ranks among the happiest countries in the world.
Forelsket (adj.)
Pronunciation: for-el-skit
Meaning: Being madly in love – an ineffable euphoria experienced when one is enamored with someone.
Norwegians also use the word forelsket to define a similar feeling.
Bagstiv (adj.)
Pronunciation: bag-stiv
Meaning: Waking up still drunk from the night before, Hungover
Hils (n.)
Pronunciation:hils
Meaning: When Danes tell someone to give their regards or say hello to someone else, they just say “hils”. e.g., I’ll be meeting Amanda today. Okay, hils.
Short and sweet. Isn’t it?
Arbejdsglæde (n.)
Pronunciation: ahh-bites-gle-the
Meaning: Joy and satisfaction derived from one’s work or daily tasks
You are incredibly lucky if you have a job that makes you happy 🙂 Arbejdsglæde is super important as it leads to success.
Sympatisk (adj.)
Pronunciation: sym-pat-isk
Meaning: Likeable, Friendly, Nice, Trustworthy
Uoverskuelig (adj.)
Pronunciation: over·skuelig
Meaning: When Danes don’t know where to start or are unable to deal with the task at hand, they use this word.
Træls (adj.)
Pronunciation: trels
Meaning: Annoying, Grueling, Tiresome, Disappointing, Nuisance, Inconvenient
Overmorgen (n.)
Pronunciation: aw-mawgen
Meaning: the day after tomorrow
Forgårs (n.)
Pronunciation: faw-gaws
Meaning: the day before yesterday
Tanketorsk (n.)
Pronunciation: tan-ke-to-sg
Meaning: Literally translates to thought cod. Used to describe a thoughtless action, a gaffe, or a statement made without considering the consequences.
Velbekomme (interj.)
Pronunciation: velbe-komme
Meaning: Telling someone to enjoy their meal. What “bon appetit” is to the French, “velbekomme” is to the Danes.
Orke (v.)
Pronunciation: ok
Meaning: It means that you can’t be bothered to do something or that you don’t have the strength or energy for it.
Jo (n.)
Pronunciation: yo
Meaning: Literally means “yes,” but is used only in response to a negative question or statement. e.g., Did you not finish your homework yesterday? Jo, I finished it before going to bed.
Do you have any fascinating and beautiful Danish words that you’d like us to add to this list of unique words from the Danish language?
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