chirality

/kaɪˈɹælɪti/

//kaɪˈɹælɪti// noun

"chirality" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“chirality” is uncommon English (frequency #87,137 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,137
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The phenomenon, in chemistry, physics and mathematics, in which objects are mirror images of each other, but are otherwise identical; handedness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-chirality · chirality · English

chirality · rank #87,137 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #87,137
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Chitwood

Nearest frequency peer: Chitwood (+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 “chirality”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chirality
PropertyValue
Headwordchirality
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kaɪˈɹælɪti/
Letters9
Frequency rank#87,137
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “chirality” 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).chiralityfalls 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: “Chitwood” (#87,138), “chloroquine” (#87,139), “chetty” (#87,134). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “chirality” is #87,137. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chirality is uncommon English at frequency #87,137 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kaɪˈɹælɪti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The phenomenon, in chemistry, physics and mathematics, in which objects are mirror images of each other, but are otherwise identical; handedness.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for chirality, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From chiral + -ity = chir- + -ality. The correct English form is chirality, spelled C-H-I-R-A-L-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The phenomenon, in chemistry, physics and mathematics, in which objects are mirror images of each other, but are otherwise identical; handedness.

Etymology

From chiral + -ity = chir- + -ality.

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "chirality"?
"chirality" is spelled C-H-I-R-A-L-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /kaɪˈɹælɪti/.
What does "chirality" mean?
As a noun, "chirality" means: The phenomenon, in chemistry, physics and mathematics, in which objects are mirror images of each other, but are otherwise identical; handedness.
How do you pronounce "chirality"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chirality" is /kaɪˈɹælɪti/. 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 "chirality"?
From chiral + -ity = chir- + -ality. 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 "chirality", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list