austerity

/ɔˈstɛɹɪti/

//ɔˈstɛɹɪti// noun

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

"austerity" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“austerity” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,844. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,844
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
13
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.

Corpus desk

Index EN-austerity · austerity · English

austerity · rank #16,844 · 13 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,844
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH artifact

Nearest frequency peer: artifact (-1 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “austerity”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “austerity” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for austerity
PropertyValue
Headwordausterity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɔˈstɛɹɪti/
Letters9
Frequency rank#16,844
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “austerity”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).austeritylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “artifact” (#16,843), “awfully” (#16,845), “Aristotle” (#16,842). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “austerity” is #16,844. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around austerity (IPA /ɔˈstɛɹɪti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,844 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for austerity, with forms such as "asuterity", "ausetrity", and "aussterity". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek αὐστηρότης (austērótēs, “bitter, harsh”). Morphologically austere + -ity. The correct English form is austerity, spelled A-U-S-T-E-R-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
  2. 2
    Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.
  3. 3
    A policy of deficit-cutting, which by definition requires lower spending, higher taxes, or both.
  4. 4
    Sourness and harshness to the taste.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The most rigid and noted of the English ladies resident in the French capital acknowledged and countenanced her; the virtuous Lady Elderbury, the severe Lady Rockminster, the venerable Countess of Southdown—people, in a word, renowned for austerity, and of quite a dazzling moral purity:—so great and beneficent an influence had the possession of ten (some…
  2. One critic [Madeleine Schwartz] recently noted that the politics of Rooney’s novels were largely “gestural,” with airy mentions of Gaza or austerity protests but not much radical substance.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αὐστηρότης (austērótēs, “bitter, harsh”). Morphologically austere + -ity.

Antonyms

comfort

This word in other languages

austeridad(Español)austérité(Français)Einschränkung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asuterity
  • ausetrity
  • aussterity
  • austeirty
  • austeritty
  • austerityy
  • austeriyt
  • austerrity
  • austertiy
  • austreity
  • austterity
  • autserity
  • uasterity

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of austerity - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

asuterity2ausetrity2aussterity1austeirty2austeritty1austerityy1austeriyt2austerrity1
Edit distance from "austerity"

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 "austerity"?
"austerity" is spelled A-U-S-T-E-R-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ɔˈstɛɹɪti/.
What does "austerity" mean?
As a noun, "austerity" means: Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
What are common misspellings of "austerity"?
Common misspellings include "asuterity", "ausetrity", "aussterity", "austeirty", "austeritty". The correct spelling is "austerity".
How do you pronounce "austerity"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "austerity" is /ɔˈstɛɹɪti/. 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 "austerity"?
From Ancient Greek αὐστηρότης (austērótēs, “bitter, harsh”). Morphologically austere + -ity. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Aristotle#16,842Beethoven#16,850candidacy#16,859cherished#16,862

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

browning13 variantsvisionary13 variantsclubhouse13 variantsuntouched13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list