Wendehals

German

Etymology

wenden (“turn around”) +‎ Hals (“neck”)

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Wendehals m (strong, genitive Wendehalses, plural Wendehälse)

1. The Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla).
2. An opportunist, a person with no principles.
3. (politics) A political opportunist after a regime change, particularly a communist in East Germany who switched to supporting capitalism after German reunification.

Declension

Declension of Wendehals [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Wendehals	die	Wendehälse
genitive	eines	des	Wendehalses	der	Wendehälse
dative	einem	dem	Wendehals, Wendehalse1	den	Wendehälsen
accusative	einen	den	Wendehals	die	Wendehälse

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Rotkehl-Wendehals (“red-throated wryneck”)

Descendants

• Russian: вертише́йка (vertišéjka) (calque)

Further reading

• “Wendehals” in Duden online