dignitary
/ˈdɪɡnɪtɹi/
"dignitary" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dignitary” is uncommon English (frequency #65,052 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,052
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An important or influential person, or one of high rank or position.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dignitary · dignitary · English
dignitary · rank #65,052 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #65,052
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH dietetic
Nearest frequency peer: dietetic (-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 “dignitary”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- desensitiza…
desensitization
34,952 corpus weight
- dietetic
dietetic
34,950 corpus weight
- dignitary
dignitary
34,949 corpus weight
- dimensionle…
dimensionless
34,948 corpus weight
- dinger
dinger
34,947 corpus weight
- discretely
discretely
34,946 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “dignitary” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dignitary |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɪɡnɪtɹi/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #65,052 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dignitary” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dignitary is uncommon English at frequency #65,052 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɪɡnɪtɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An important or influential person, or one of high rank or position.".
dignitary has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French dignitaire. The correct English form is dignitary, spelled D-I-G-N-I-T-A-R-Y.
Definition
- 1An important or influential person, or one of high rank or position.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dignitary appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Chinese dignitaries traveled with us from place to place, and when ready to depart from Urumchi, or Tihwa, we were introduced to the high officials who were going along in the plane.
It was a remarkable climax to a match that ended with another of those disappearing acts from John Terry only to re-emerge, in full kit, so he could climb the steps, shake the hands of Eusébio, Michel Platini and all the other dignitaries, then help Frank Lampard to lift the trophy.
Etymology
From French dignitaire.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dignitary", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).