factoid
/ˈfæk.tɔɪd/noun
factoid is spelled F-A-C-T-O-I-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 79,518th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, factoid means “An inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of factoid is factoids.
How many letters and syllables are in factoid?
| Letters | 7: F-A-C-T-O-I-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 79,518th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is factoid?
Factoid appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 79,518th 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 factoid?
- /ˈfæk.tɔɪd/
Factoid has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-factoid.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of factoid
- factoids plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does factoid mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media.
- 2
USAn interesting item of trivia; a minor fact.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Factoid in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense inaccurate statement believed to be true:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Faktoid |
| Portuguese | factoide |
| Spanish | factoide |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does factoid come from?
From fact + -oid (“similar, but not the same”); coined by American writer Norman Mailer in 1973 in Marilyn: A Biography, defined as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).