harangue

/həˈɹæŋ/

//həˈɹæŋ// noun

"harangue" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“harangue” is uncommon English (frequency #87,352 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,352
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An impassioned, disputatious public speech.

Corpus desk

Index EN-harangue · harangue · English

harangue · rank #87,352 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #87,352
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hairball

Nearest frequency peer: hairball (-3 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “harangue”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “harangue” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for harangue
PropertyValue
Headwordharangue
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/həˈɹæŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#87,352
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “harangue” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).haranguefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “hairball” (#87,349), “harking” (#87,355), “gyal” (#87,346). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “harangue” is #87,352. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

harangue is uncommon English at frequency #87,352 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /həˈɹæŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for harangue in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English arang and French harangue, from Old Italian aringa (modern Italian arringa) from aringare (“speak in public”) (modern Italian arringare), from aringo (“public assembly”), from Gothic *𐌷𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍃 (*hriggs) or a compound containing it, a… The correct English form is harangue, spelled H-A-R-A-N-G-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An impassioned, disputatious public speech.
  2. 2
    A tirade, harsh scolding or rant, whether spoken or written.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how harangue appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. She gave her son a harangue about the dangers of playing in the street.
  2. The priest took thirty minutes to deliver his harangue on timeliness, making the entire service run late.

Etymology

From Middle English arang and French harangue, from Old Italian aringa (modern Italian arringa) from aringare (“speak in public”) (modern Italian arringare), from aringo (“public assembly”), from Gothic *𐌷𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍃 (*hriggs) or a compound containing it, akin to Old High German hring (“ring”) (whence German Ring).

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 "harangue"?
"harangue" is spelled H-A-R-A-N-G-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /həˈɹæŋ/.
What does "harangue" mean?
As a noun, "harangue" means: An impassioned, disputatious public speech.
How do you pronounce "harangue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "harangue" is /həˈɹæŋ/. 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 "harangue"?
From Middle English arang and French harangue, from Old Italian aringa (modern Italian arringa) from aringare (“speak in public”) (modern Italian arringare), from aringo (“public assembly”), from Gothic *𐌷𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍃 (*hriggs) or a compound contai... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "harangue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list