ayatollah

/aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/

//aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“ayatollah” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #31,867. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#31,867
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
11
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ayatollah · ayatollah · English

ayatollah · rank #31,867 · 11 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #31,867
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH aya

Nearest frequency peer: aya (-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 “ayatollah”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “ayatollah” 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 ayatollah
PropertyValue
Headwordayatollah
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#31,867
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ayatollah”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ayatollahlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “aya” (#31,866), “baa” (#31,869), “Aust” (#31,864). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “ayatollah” is #31,867. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around ayatollah (IPA /aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #31,867 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for ayatollah, with forms such as "aaytollah", "ayaotllah", and "ayatlolah". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Iranian Persian آیَتُاللّٰه (âyato-l-lâh), from Classical Persian آیَةُاللّٰه (āyatu-l-lāh), from Arabic آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ (ʔāyatu llāhi, “sign of God”, from آيَة (ʔāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه (allāh, “God”)). The correct English form is ayatollah, spelled A-Y-A-T-O-L-L-A-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism.
  2. 2
    An authority on any subject.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. P.S. This writer does NOT speak as the Ayatollah of SM. (There isn't one.) If you really want to know more, talk to sadomasochists, or at least do some reading if you're too scared to ask.

Etymology

Borrowed from Iranian Persian آیَتُاللّٰه (âyato-l-lâh), from Classical Persian آیَةُاللّٰه (āyatu-l-lāh), from Arabic آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ (ʔāyatu llāhi, “sign of God”, from آيَة (ʔāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه (allāh, “God”)).

This word in other languages

ayatolá(Español)ayatollah(Français)Ajatollah(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aaytollah
  • ayaotllah
  • ayatlolah
  • ayatolah
  • ayatolalh
  • ayatollahh
  • ayatollha
  • ayattollah
  • aytaollah
  • ayyatollah
  • yaatollah

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ayatollah - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

aaytollah2ayaotllah2ayatlolah2ayatolah1ayatolalh2ayatollahh1ayatollha2ayattollah1
Edit distance from "ayatollah"

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 "ayatollah"?
"ayatollah" is spelled A-Y-A-T-O-L-L-A-H. The IPA pronunciation is /aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/.
What does "ayatollah" mean?
As a noun, "ayatollah" means: A religious leader in Twelver Shi'ism.
What are common misspellings of "ayatollah"?
Common misspellings include "aaytollah", "ayaotllah", "ayatlolah", "ayatolah", "ayatolalh". The correct spelling is "ayatollah".
How do you pronounce "ayatollah"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ayatollah" is /aɪ.əˈtoʊl.ə/. 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 "ayatollah"?
Borrowed from Iranian Persian آیَتُاللّٰه (âyato-l-lâh), from Classical Persian آیَةُاللّٰه (āyatu-l-lāh), from Arabic آيَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ (ʔāyatu llāhi, “sign of God”, from آيَة (ʔāya, “sign”) + اللّٰه (allāh, “God”)). 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 "ayatollah", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Bharatiya#31,874bookshelf#31,880brotherly#31,886buffering#31,887

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

abysmal11 variantscasings11 variantscompels11 variantsThurman11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list