General Secretary

/ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəl ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/

//ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəl ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi// noun

"general-secretary" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“General Secretary” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Chief officer or leader of a political party or organization, especially in Communist contexts.

Key facts for General Secretary
PropertyValue
HeadwordGeneral Secretary
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəl ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “General Secretary” sits in English frequency

General Secretary falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for General Secretary is 17 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəl ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Chief officer or leader of a political party or organization, especially in Communist contexts.".

Zero misspellings are on record for General Secretary in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is General Secretary, spelled G-E-N-E-R-A-L- -S-E-C-R-E-T-A-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Chief officer or leader of a political party or organization, especially in Communist contexts.

Synonyms

First SecretarySecretary General

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "General Secretary"?
"General Secretary" is spelled G-E-N-E-R-A-L- -S-E-C-R-E-T-A-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəl ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/.
What does "General Secretary" mean?
As a noun, "General Secretary" means: Chief officer or leader of a political party or organization, especially in Communist contexts.
How do you pronounce "General Secretary"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "General Secretary" is /ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəl ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "General Secretary" come from?
"General Secretary" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “General Secretary”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is G-E-N-E-R-A-L- -S-E-C-R-E-T-A-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəl ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/ (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.

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

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