Systematic or systemic?
systematic is an adjective meaning “Carried out according to a planned, ordered procedure”; systemic is an adjective meaning “Embedded within and spread throughout and affecting a whole system, group…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) systematic is about as common as systemic.
What is the difference between systematic and systemic?
| systematic | systemic | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, adverb | adjective |
| Meaning | Carried out according to a planned, ordered procedure Methodical; regular and orderly colloquialsystematically | Embedded within and spread throughout and affecting a whole system, group, body, economy, market, or society Pertaining to an entire organism |
| Example | the systematic study of religious beliefs | none recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˌsɪs.tɪˈmæt.ɪk/ /ˌsɪs.təˈmæt.ɪk/ | /sɪˈstɛm.ɪk/ /sɪˈstiː.mɪk/ |
| In writing | 7.4 times per million words | 5.5 times per million words |
Sources: systematic and systemic 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 systematic and systemic
systematic
- 1
Carried out according to a planned, ordered procedure
- 2
colloquialsystematically
- 3
Methodical; regular and orderly
- 4
Treating an object as a system or coherent whole
the systematic study of religious beliefs
- 5
Of or relating to taxonomic classification
- 6
Of, relating to, or in accordance with generally recognized conventions for the naming of chemicals
systemic
- 1
Embedded within and spread throughout and affecting a whole system, group, body, economy, market, or society
- 2
Pertaining to an entire organism
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, systematic or systemic?
systematic appears 7.4 times per million words; systemic 5.5 times per million words.
systematic 7.4 times per million wordssystemic 5.5 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search systematic vs systemic?
“systematic vs systemic” is searched about 9,900 times a month on Google and 140 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“systemic vs systematic”, “systematic or systemic”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.