ceremonious
/sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/
"ceremonious" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ceremonious” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - According to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals; specifically (Christianity, obsolete), to ceremonial laws in the Bible.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ceremonious · ceremonious · English
ceremonious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ceremonious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ceremonious” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ceremonious is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for ceremonious in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. 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: Learned borrowing from Middle French cérémonieux (modern French cérémonieux) or directly from its etymon Latin caerimōniōsus + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)). Ca… The correct English form is ceremonious, spelled C-E-R-E-M-O-N-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1According to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals; specifically (Christianity, obsolete), to ceremonial laws in the Bible.
- 2Involving much ceremony; ostentatious, showy.
- 3Of a person: fond of ceremony or ritual, or of observing strict etiquette or formality; punctilious.
- 4Synonym of ceremonial (“of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony or rite”); formal, ritual.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ceremonious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[L]et vs take a ceremonious leaue, / And louing farevvell of our ſeuerall friends.
VVhen vve deſcribe our ſenſations of another's ſorrovvs, either in friendly or ceremonious condolence, the cuſtoms of the vvorld ſcarcely admit of rigid veracity.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Middle French cérémonieux (modern French cérémonieux) or directly from its etymon Latin caerimōniōsus + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)). Caerimōniōsus is derived from Latin caerimōnia (“awe, reverence, veneration; sacredness, sanctity; religious ceremony, ritual”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to build, make; to do”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly’ forming adjectives from nouns). By surface analysis, ceremony + -ous.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.