brutality
/bɹuːˈtælɪti/
"brutality" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brutality” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,928 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,928
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being brutal.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brutality |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɹuːˈtælɪti/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #12,928 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “brutality” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for brutality is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹuːˈtælɪti/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,928 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for brutality, with forms such as "bbrutality", "brrutality", and "brtuality". 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 also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "brutally", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From brutal + -ity. The correct English form is brutality, spelled B-R-U-T-A-L-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The state of being brutal.
- 2A cruel or savage act.
- 3The use of excessive physical force, often in the form of violence.
Etymology
From brutal + -ity.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbrutality,brrutality,brtuality,bruatlity,brutailty,brutalitty,brutalityy,brutaliyt,brutallity,brutaltiy,brutlaity,bruttality,burtality,rbutality
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brutality - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "brutality"?
What does "brutality" mean?
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Using “brutality”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-U-T-A-L-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹuːˈtælɪti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “brutally” - see the side-by-side comparison. brutality vs brutally
- 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.