hypocrisy
/hɪˈpɒkɹəsi/
"hypocrisy" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hypocrisy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,074 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,074
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness, while concealing real character or inclinations, especially with respect to religious and moral beliefs; hence in general sense, dissimu...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hypocrisy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /hɪˈpɒkɹəsi/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #12,074 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hypocrisy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hypocrisy is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɪˈpɒkɹəsi/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,074 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for hypocrisy, with forms such as "hhypocrisy", "hpyocrisy", and "hyopcrisy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "hypocrite", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From hypo- + Ancient Greek κρί(σις) (krí(sis)) + -isy. From Middle English ipocrisie, from Old French ypocrisie, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόκρισις (hupókrisis, “answer, stage acting, pretense”), from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “I answ… The correct English form is hypocrisy, spelled H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y.
Definition
- 1The contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness, while concealing real character or inclinations, especially with respect to religious and moral beliefs; hence in general sense, dissimulation, pretence, sham.
- 2The claim or pretense of having beliefs, standards, qualities, behaviours, virtues, motivations, etc. which one does not really have.
- 3The practice of engaging in the same behaviour or activity for which one criticises another; moral self-contradiction whereby the behavior of one or more people belies their own claimed or implied possession of certain beliefs, standards or virtues.
- 4An instance of hypocrisy.
Etymology
From hypo- + Ancient Greek κρί(σις) (krí(sis)) + -isy. From Middle English ipocrisie, from Old French ypocrisie, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόκρισις (hupókrisis, “answer, stage acting, pretense”), from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “I answer (a fellow actor on stage), play a part, dissemble, feign”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under, equivalent of the modern "hypo-" prefix”) + the middle voice of κρίνω (krínō, “I separate, judge, decide”) + -isy. Displaced native Old English līċettung.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hhypocrisy,hpyocrisy,hyopcrisy,hypcorisy,hypoccrisy,hypocirsy,hypocrissy,hypocrisyy,hypocriys,hypocrrisy,hypocrsiy,hyporcisy,hyppocrisy,hyypocrisy,yhpocrisy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hypocrisy - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “hypocrisy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /hɪˈpɒkɹəsi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hypocrite” - see the side-by-side comparison. hypocrisy vs hypocrite
- 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.