ceremonious
/sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/
"ceremonious" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ceremonious” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - According to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals; specifically (Christianity, obsolete), to ceremonial laws in the Bible.
| 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) |
Where “ceremonious” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ceremonious is 11 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “ceremonious”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-E-R-E-M-O-N-I-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/ (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.