fascism
/ˈfæʃɪz(ə)m/
"fascism" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fascism” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,342 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,342
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fascism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfæʃɪz(ə)m/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #13,342 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fascism” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fascism is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfæʃɪz(ə)m/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,342 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for fascism, with forms such as "afscism", "facsism", and "fasccism". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "fascist", "fascia", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian fascismo, from fascio (“fasces, bundle, group”) + -ismo (“-ism”) with direct reference to Benito Mussolini's fasci di combattimento ("fight clubs"), from Latin fasces, bundles of axes and rods carried before the magistrates of the ancient Roman… The correct English form is fascism, spelled F-A-S-C-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition.
- 2Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition.
- 3Any system of strong autocracy or oligarchy usually to the extent of bending and breaking the law, race-baiting, and/or violence against largely unarmed populations.
- 4Any extreme reliance on or enforcement of rules and regulations.
Etymology
From Italian fascismo, from fascio (“fasces, bundle, group”) + -ismo (“-ism”) with direct reference to Benito Mussolini's fasci di combattimento ("fight clubs"), from Latin fasces, bundles of axes and rods carried before the magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic as representative of their power of life and death. Originally with exclusive reference to Fascist Italy which used the fasces as an emblem, later broadened to describe all of the Axis Powers of World War II, and subsequently used as a general term of opprobrium in English and international political discourse. Etymology tree Latin fascis Italian fascio Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. Latin -ismus Italian -ismo Italian fascismolbor. English fascism
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: afscism,facsism,fasccism,fascims,fascismm,fascissm,fascsim,fasicsm,fasscism,ffascism,fsacism
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fascism - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "fascism"?
What does "fascism" mean?
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Using “fascism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-A-S-C-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfæʃɪz(ə)m/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “fascist” - see the side-by-side comparison. fascism vs fascist
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.