duplicitous
/djʊˈplɪsɪtəs/
"duplicitous" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“duplicitous” is uncommon English (frequency #58,655 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,655
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Given to or marked by deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.
Corpus desk
Index EN-duplicitous · duplicitous · English
duplicitous · rank #58,655 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #58,655
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH effusion
Nearest frequency peer: effusion (+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 “duplicitous”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- dowdy
dowdy
41,350 corpus weight
- dro
dro
41,349 corpus weight
- duplicitous
duplicitous
41,346 corpus weight
- effusion
effusion
41,345 corpus weight
- eggman
eggman
41,344 corpus weight
- eggnog
eggnog
41,343 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “duplicitous” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | duplicitous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /djʊˈplɪsɪtəs/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #58,655 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “duplicitous” in English
Rare enough to double-check
duplicitous is uncommon English at frequency #58,655 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /djʊˈplɪsɪtəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Given to or marked by deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.".
duplicitous has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From duplicity + -ous. The correct English form is duplicitous, spelled D-U-P-L-I-C-I-T-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Given to or marked by deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how duplicitous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It reunites the horribly duplicitous skag-addicted non-heroes of the first movie about twentysomethings trying to get off heroin in Edinburgh, and finding that they have nothing very much to put in its place.
Russia played on those feelings by attacking the French president, Emmanuel Macron[…], saying Moscow still remembered the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte and accusing the French president of duplicitous diplomacy with the Kremlin.
Etymology
From duplicity + -ous.
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 "duplicitous"?
What does "duplicitous" mean?
How do you pronounce "duplicitous"?
What is the origin of the word "duplicitous"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "duplicitous", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).