accessory
/əkˈsɛs.(ə.)ɹi/adjective, noun
accessory is spelled A-C-C-E-S-S-O-R-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is accesory: about 210 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 12 of all searches for the word. Accessory is an adjective meaning “Having a secondary, supplementary or subordinate function by accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a…”.
How many letters and syllables are in accessory?
| Letters | 9: A-C-C-E-S-S-O-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, accesory, about 210 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell accessory?
Accessory is spelled A-C-C-E-S-S-O-R-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 12 of the searches for accessory in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is accessory?
Accessory appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce accessory?
- US /əkˈsɛs.(ə.)ɹi/
- US /ækˈsɛs.(ə.)ɹi/
- /əˈsɛs.(ə.)ɹi/
Accessory has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-accessory.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with accessory
Sounds like: accessary (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of accessory
- more accessory comparative
- most accessory superlative
- accessary
- accessories plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does accessory mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having a secondary, supplementary or subordinate function by accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a secondary way; being additional; contributing or being contributory.
accessory garments
- 2
Assisting a crime without actually participating in committing the crime itself; being connected as an incident or subordinate to a principal.
Her actions were clearly accessory because they helped him commit and probably also conceal the crime.
- 3
Present in a minor amount, and not essential.
accessory mineral
- 4
Supernumerary and generally nonfunctional.
She had an accessory finger on one hand.
noun
- 1
Something that belongs to part of another main thing; something additional and subordinate, an attachment.
the accessories of a mobile phone
- 2
An article that completes one's basic outfit, such as a scarf or gloves.
- 3
A person who is not present at a crime, but contributes to it as an assistant or instigator.
She was an accessory to the murder because she helped him commit and probably also conceal the crime.
- 4
Something in a work of art without being indispensably necessary, for example solely ornamental parts.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Accessory in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | accessoire |
| German | nebensächlich, zusätzlich, begleitend , beihelfend, Beihilfe leistend , Zubehör |
| Portuguese | acessório , cúmplice |
| Spanish | accesorio, auxiliar , cómplice , complemento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does accessory come from?
From Medieval Latin accessōrius, from Latin accessor (“helper, subordinate”), from accessus. Compare access, from same root.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).