clientelism
[klaɪ.ənˈtɛl.ɪ.zm̩]noun
clientelism is spelled C-L-I-E-N-T-E-L-I-S-M: 11 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, clientelism means “A political system based on personal relations rather than personal merits” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of clientelism is clientelisms.
How many letters and syllables are in clientelism?
| Letters | 11: C-L-I-E-N-T-E-L-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 25 million words; the 150,355th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is clientelism?
Clientelism appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce clientelism?
- UK [klaɪ.n̩ˈtɛl.ɪ.zm̩]
- UK [kliː.ɒnˈtɛl.ɪ.zm̩]
- US [klaɪ.ənˈtɛl.ɪ.zm̩]
Clientelism has 5 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of clientelism
- clientelisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does clientelism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A political system based on personal relations rather than personal merits.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Clientelism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a political system based on personal relations rather than personal merits:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | clientélisme |
| Spanish | clientelismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does clientelism come from?
From clientele + -ism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).