cheerfulness

/ˈt͡ʃɪɹfəlnəs/

//ˈt͡ʃɪɹfəlnəs// noun

"cheerfulness" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cheerfulness” is uncommon English (frequency #66,558 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,558
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being cheerful; joy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cheerfulness · cheerfulness · English

cheerfulness · rank #66,558 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,558
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chauvinistic

Nearest frequency peer: chauvinistic (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “cheerfulness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “cheerfulness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cheerfulness
PropertyValue
Headwordcheerfulness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈt͡ʃɪɹfəlnəs/
Letters12
Frequency rank#66,558
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cheerfulness” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).cheerfulnessfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “chauvinistic” (#66,557), “Chenoweth” (#66,559), “chatbot” (#66,556). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cheerfulness” is #66,558. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cheerfulness is uncommon English at frequency #66,558 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈt͡ʃɪɹfəlnəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The state of being cheerful; joy.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for cheerfulness, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cherefulnes; equivalent to cheerful + -ness. The correct English form is cheerfulness, spelled C-H-E-E-R-F-U-L-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being cheerful; joy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giueth, let him doe it with simplicitie: hee that ruleth, with diligence: hee that sheweth mercy, with cheerefulnesse.
  2. The banded ones were all dressed in white gowns - a gay survival from Old Style days, when cheerfulness and May-time were synonyms - days before the habit of taking long views had reduced emotions to a monotonous average.

Etymology

From Middle English cherefulnes; equivalent to cheerful + -ness.

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 "cheerfulness"?
"cheerfulness" is spelled C-H-E-E-R-F-U-L-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈt͡ʃɪɹfəlnəs/.
What does "cheerfulness" mean?
As a noun, "cheerfulness" means: The state of being cheerful; joy.
How do you pronounce "cheerfulness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cheerfulness" is /ˈt͡ʃɪɹfəlnəs/. 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 "cheerfulness"?
From Middle English cherefulnes; equivalent to cheerful + -ness. 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 "cheerfulness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list