eclecticism

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"eclecticism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“eclecticism” is uncommon English (frequency #64,345 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,345
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality of being eclectic.

Corpus desk

Index EN-eclecticism · eclecticism · English

eclecticism · rank #64,345 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,345
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH echolocation

Nearest frequency peer: echolocation (-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 “eclecticism”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “eclecticism” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for eclecticism
PropertyValue
Headwordeclecticism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#64,345
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “eclecticism” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).eclecticismfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “echolocation” (#64,344), “ECP” (#64,346), “ehm” (#64,347). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “eclecticism” is #64,345. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

eclecticism is uncommon English at frequency #64,345 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for eclecticism in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From eclectic + -ism. The correct English form is eclecticism, spelled E-C-L-E-C-T-I-C-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being eclectic.
  2. 2
    The quality of being eclectic.
  3. 3
    The quality of being eclectic.
  4. 4
    The selection of diverse witnesses to a text.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how eclecticism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In those days she had admired his pluralistic openness of mind, and struggled, in her kitchen, towards a parallel eclecticism, learning to cook the dosas and uttapams of South India as well as the soft meatballs of Kashmir.
  2. I am concerned that this encouraging but brief period of success will foster the opinion, already widely held, that the monetary pillar is superfluous, and lead monetary policy analysis back to the kind of muddled eclecticism that brought us the 1970s inflation.

Etymology

From eclectic + -ism.

This word in other languages

éclectisme(Français)Eklektizismus(Deutsch)ecletismo(Português)

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 "eclecticism"?
"eclecticism" is spelled E-C-L-E-C-T-I-C-I-S-M.
What does "eclecticism" mean?
As a noun, "eclecticism" means: The quality of being eclectic.
What is the origin of the word "eclecticism"?
From eclectic + -ism. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "eclecticism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

disquieting#64,318determinate#64,314glucosamine#64,404Chillicothe#64,264

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list