de jure
/deɪ ˈd͡ʒʊɹi/
"de-jure" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“de jure” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - By right; in accordance with or as deemed by the statute of the law, particularly as opposed to actual practice.
Corpus desk
Index EN-de-jure · de jure · English
de jure · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" 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 | de jure |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /deɪ ˈd͡ʒʊɹi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “de jure” in English
Rare enough to double-check
de jure is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed /deɪ ˈd͡ʒʊɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "By right; in accordance with or as deemed by the statute of the law, particularly as opposed to actual practice.".
Zero misspellings are on record for de jure in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from Latin dē jūre (literally “according to law”). The correct English form is de jure, spelled D-E- -J-U-R-E.
Definition
- 1By right; in accordance with or as deemed by the statute of the law, particularly as opposed to actual practice.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how de jure appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: technically
I used to spend my Sundays playing pinball despite it being de jure illegal under an unenforced bylaw.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin dē jūre (literally “according to law”).
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.