functionary
/ˈfʌŋ(k).ʃn̩.(ə)ri/
"functionary" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“functionary” is an uncommon English word, ranked #63,634 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #63,634
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person employed as an official in a bureaucracy (usually corporate or governmental) who holds limited authority and primarily serves to carry out a simple function for which discretion is minimal...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | functionary |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfʌŋ(k).ʃn̩.(ə)ri/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #63,634 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “functionary” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for functionary is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfʌŋ(k).ʃn̩.(ə)ri/. Corpus data places it at rank #63,634 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for functionary, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French fonctionnaire; by surface analysis, function + -ary. The correct English form is functionary, spelled F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A person employed as an official in a bureaucracy (usually corporate or governmental) who holds limited authority and primarily serves to carry out a simple function for which discretion is minimal or not required.
- 2Such a person who is petty, pedantic, short-sighted, uncaring, or counterproductive; sometimes also with implication of being amoral or corrupt.
Etymology
From French fonctionnaire; by surface analysis, function + -ary.
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
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Using “functionary”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfʌŋ(k).ʃn̩.(ə)ri/ (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
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.