bigwig
/ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/
"bigwig" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bigwig” is an uncommon English word, ranked #89,160 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #89,160
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person of importance in a group or organization.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bigwig |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #89,160 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bigwig” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bigwig is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/. Corpus data places it at rank #89,160 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A person of importance in a group or organization.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for bigwig, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: First arose in the 1730s, from big + wig. Formerly, English men of authority wore wigs. Bigwig plays on the idea that higher authority is denoted by a larger wig. The correct English form is bigwig, spelled B-I-G-W-I-G.
Definition
- 1A person of importance in a group or organization.
Etymology
First arose in the 1730s, from big + wig. Formerly, English men of authority wore wigs. Bigwig plays on the idea that higher authority is denoted by a larger wig.
This word in other languages
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
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Using “bigwig”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-G-W-I-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.