anachronism

/əˈnæ.kɹə.nɪ.z(ə)m/

//əˈnæ.kɹə.nɪ.z(ə)m// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"anachronism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“anachronism” is uncommon English (frequency #50,933 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,933
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A chronological mistake; the erroneous dating of an event, circumstance, or object.

Corpus desk

Index EN-anachronism · anachronism · English

anachronism · rank #50,933 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,933
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ambedkar

Nearest frequency peer: Ambedkar (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “anachronism”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “anachronism” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for anachronism
PropertyValue
Headwordanachronism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈnæ.kɹə.nɪ.z(ə)m/
Letters11
Frequency rank#50,933
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “anachronism” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).anachronismfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Ambedkar” (#50,931), “Anglicans” (#50,936), “alternation” (#50,929). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “anachronism” is #50,933. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

anachronism is uncommon English at frequency #50,933 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /əˈnæ.kɹə.nɪ.z(ə)m/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for anachronism, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin anachronismus, from Ancient Greek ἀναχρονισμός (anakhronismós), from ἀναχρονίζομαι (anakhronízomai, “referring to the wrong time”), from ἀνά (aná, “up against”) + χρονίζω (khronízō, “spending time”), from χρόνος (khrónos, “time”). Analyzable … The correct English form is anachronism, spelled A-N-A-C-H-R-O-N-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A chronological mistake; the erroneous dating of an event, circumstance, or object.
  2. 2
    A person or thing which seems to belong to a different time or period of time.
  3. 3
    The aberrant projection of the present onto the past.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how anachronism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Indeed, that Hall of the Upper Temple is a sight not uninteresting, and with the exception of some trifling improvements and anachronisms which have been introduced into the practice there, a man may sit down and fancy that he joins in a meal of the seventeenth century.
  2. [W]e beg the reader to understand that we only commit anachronisms when we choose and when by a daring violation of those natural laws some great ethical truth is to be advanced […]

Etymology

From New Latin anachronismus, from Ancient Greek ἀναχρονισμός (anakhronismós), from ἀναχρονίζομαι (anakhronízomai, “referring to the wrong time”), from ἀνά (aná, “up against”) + χρονίζω (khronízō, “spending time”), from χρόνος (khrónos, “time”). Analyzable as ana- + chrono- + -ism.

This word in other languages

anacronismo(Español)anachronisme(Français)Anachronismus(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "anachronism"?
"anachronism" is spelled A-N-A-C-H-R-O-N-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈnæ.kɹə.nɪ.z(ə)m/.
What does "anachronism" mean?
As a noun, "anachronism" means: A chronological mistake; the erroneous dating of an event, circumstance, or object.
How do you pronounce "anachronism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "anachronism" is /əˈnæ.kɹə.nɪ.z(ə)m/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "anachronism"?
From New Latin anachronismus, from Ancient Greek ἀναχρονισμός (anakhronismós), from ἀναχρονίζομαι (anakhronízomai, “referring to the wrong time”), from ἀνά (aná, “up against”) + χρονίζω (khronízō, “spending time”), from χρόνος (khrónos, “time”). A... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "anachronism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

alternation#50,929unabashedly#50,866Trinidadian#50,855coffeehouse#51,025

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list