fundamentalism
/ˌfʌndəˈmentəlɪzəm/noun
fundamentalism is spelled F-U-N-D-A-M-E-N-T-A-L-I-S-M: 14 letters and 6 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fundamentalism means “The tendency to reduce a religion to its most fundamental tenets, based on strict interpretation of core texts” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fundamentalism is fundamentalisms.
How many letters and syllables are in fundamentalism?
| Letters | 14: F-U-N-D-A-M-E-N-T-A-L-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,974th 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 fundamentalism?
Fundamentalism appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th 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 fundamentalism?
- /ˌfʌndəˈmentəlɪzəm/
Fundamentalism has 6 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: En-us-fundamentalism.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of fundamentalism
- fundamentalisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fundamentalism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The tendency to reduce a religion to its most fundamental tenets, based on strict interpretation of core texts.
- 2
A rigid conformity to any set of basic tenets.
- 3
The belief that fundamental financial quantities are the best predictor of the price of a financial instrument.
- 4
A Christian movement that started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants, which emphasizes literal interpretation of the Bible, and came up as a reaction to liberal theology and cultural modernism
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fundamentalism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense religion:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fondamentalisme, intégrisme |
| German | Fundamentalismus |
| Portuguese | fundamentalismo |
| Spanish | fundamentalismo |
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 fundamentalism come from?
From fundamental + -ism. First used in the 1910s by American Christians.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).