festivity

/fɛˈstɪvəti/

//fɛˈstɪvəti// noun

"festivity" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“festivity” is uncommon English (frequency #50,511 among 18,613 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,511
frequency rank, English
18,613
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A festival or similar celebration.

Key facts for festivity
PropertyValue
Headwordfestivity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fɛˈstɪvəti/
Letters9
Frequency rank#50,511
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “festivity” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

festivity is uncommon English at frequency #50,511 among 18,613 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /fɛˈstɪvəti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

festivity has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English festivite, from Middle French festivité, from Latin festīvitas, equivalent to festive + -ity. The correct English form is festivity, spelled F-E-S-T-I-V-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A festival or similar celebration.
  2. 2
    An experience or expression of celebratory feeling, merriment, gaiety.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English festivite, from Middle French festivité, from Latin festīvitas, equivalent to festive + -ity.

Antonyms

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 "festivity"?
"festivity" is spelled F-E-S-T-I-V-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /fɛˈstɪvəti/.
What does "festivity" mean?
As a noun, "festivity" means: A festival or similar celebration.
How do you pronounce "festivity"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "festivity" is /fɛˈstɪvəti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "festivity"?
Inherited from Middle English festivite, from Middle French festivité, from Latin festīvitas, equivalent to festive + -ity. 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.

Using “festivity”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-E-S-T-I-V-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /fɛˈstɪvəti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list