Statistic or statistical?
statistic is an adjective meaning “Alternative form of statistical”; statistical is an adjective meaning “Of or pertaining to statistics”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) statistical is about 4.9 times as common as statistic.
What is the difference between statistic and statistical?
| statistic | statistical | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, verb | adjective |
| Meaning | A single item in a statistical study A quantity calculated from the data in a sample, which characterises an important aspect in the sample (such as mean or standard deviation) To analyze or describe using statistics | Of or pertaining to statistics |
| Example | By dying from an overdose, he became just another statistic | none recorded |
| Pronunciation | /stəˈtɪs.tɪk/ | /stəˈtɪs.tɪ.kəl/ [stəˈtɪs.tɪ.kl̩] |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words | 14 times per million words |
Sources: statistic and statistical in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of statistic and statistical
statistic
- 1
Alternative form of statistical
- 2
A single item in a statistical study
- 3
To analyze or describe using statistics
- 4
A quantity calculated from the data in a sample, which characterises an important aspect in the sample (such as mean or standard deviation)
- 5
To cite or calculate statistics
- 6
A person, or personal event, reduced to being an item of statistical information
By dying from an overdose, he became just another statistic
- 7
To comprise (as statistics)
statistical
- 1
Of or pertaining to statistics
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, statistic or statistical?
statistic appears 2.8 times per million words; statistical 14 times per million words.
statistic 2.8 times per million wordsstatistical 14 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).