epiphenomenal
/ˌɛpɪfɪˈnɒmɪnəl/adjective
epiphenomenal is spelled E-P-I-P-H-E-N-O-M-E-N-A-L: 13 letters. It appears about once in every 95 million words in written English, the 313,259th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, epiphenomenal means “Being of secondary consequence to a causal chain of processes, but playing no causal role in the process of interest” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in epiphenomenal?
| Letters | 13: E-P-I-P-H-E-N-O-M-E-N-A-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 95 million words; the 313,259th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is epiphenomenal?
Epiphenomenal appears about once in every 95 million words in written English, the 313,259th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce epiphenomenal?
- US /ˌɛpɪfɪˈnɒmɪnəl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-epiphenomenal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of epiphenomenal
- more epiphenomenal comparative
- most epiphenomenal superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does epiphenomenal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Being of secondary consequence to a causal chain of processes, but playing no causal role in the process of interest.
- 2
Of or pertaining to a mental process that occurs only as an incidental effect of electrical or chemical activity in the brain or nervous system.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).