high priest

noun

"high-priest" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“high priest” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A clergyman with a higher function than a normal priest.

Corpus desk

Index EN-high-priest · high priest · English

high priest · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "H" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for high priest
PropertyValue
Headwordhigh priest
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “high priest” in English

high priestsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

high priest is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for high priest, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is high priest, spelled H-I-G-H- -P-R-I-E-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A clergyman with a higher function than a normal priest.
  2. 2
    In the Bible, the male individual who was responsible for making the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur); always a descendant of Aaron, the older brother of Moses. See Kohen Gadol.
  3. 3
    Jesus Christ.
  4. 4
    The second-lowest office in the Melchizedek priesthood.
  5. 5
    A person holding a position of power or influence; an authority in a field of study, doctrine, art or a movement.
  6. 6
    A second or third degree male witch in Wicca.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jake was ordained a high priest when he was called to be a counselor in a bishopric.
  2. The global economic collapse of 2007-2008 discredited “rational expectations” economics (though its high priests have yet to recognize this) and brought both Keynes and Hayek back into posthumous contention.

Synonyms

abbotarchbishopgodihead priestchief priestKohen GadolJewish high priestmahantvolkhv

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 "high priest"?
"high priest" is spelled H-I-G-H- -P-R-I-E-S-T.
What does "high priest" mean?
As a noun, "high priest" means: A clergyman with a higher function than a normal priest.
What language does "high priest" come from?
"high priest" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list