doctrinaire
"doctrinaire" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“doctrinaire” is uncommon English (frequency #94,784 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,784
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who stubbornly holds to a philosophy or opinion regardless of its feasibility.
Corpus desk
Index EN-doctrinaire · doctrinaire · English
doctrinaire · rank #94,784 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #94,784
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH doddle
Nearest frequency peer: doddle (+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 “doctrinaire”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- dispiriting
dispiriting
5,221 corpus weight
- disputable
disputable
5,220 corpus weight
- doctrinaire
doctrinaire
5,217 corpus weight
- doddle
doddle
5,216 corpus weight
- Dods
Dods
5,214 corpus weight
- dogmatically
dogmatically
5,212 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “doctrinaire” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | doctrinaire |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #94,784 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “doctrinaire” in English
Rare enough to double-check
doctrinaire is uncommon English at frequency #94,784 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
doctrinaire doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French doctrinaire, from doctrine + -aire. The correct English form is doctrinaire, spelled D-O-C-T-R-I-N-A-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1A person who stubbornly holds to a philosophy or opinion regardless of its feasibility.
- 2In France, in 1815–30, one of a school who desired a constitution like that of Britain.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how doctrinaire appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And he is not above feeling grave and well-contained satisfaction wherever the socialist doctrinaire has been contradicted by men attempting to practise coöperation in the midst of the competitive system, as in Belgium.
Or, shall we play the doctrinaire, and hint that at thirty-four the tides of life are calmer and cognizant of many sources instead of but one—as at four-and-twenty?
Etymology
Borrowed from French doctrinaire, from doctrine + -aire.
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 "doctrinaire", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).