ignominious

/ɪɡnəˈmɪniəs/

//ɪɡnəˈmɪniəs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ignominious" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ignominious” is uncommon English (frequency #63,697 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,697
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Marked by great disgrace, dishonour, humiliation, or shame; disgraceful, shameful.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ignominious · ignominious · English

ignominious · rank #63,697 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,697
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH IDM

Nearest frequency peer: IDM (-1 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 “ignominious”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ignominious
PropertyValue
Headwordignominious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɪɡnəˈmɪniəs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#63,697
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ignominious” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ignominiousfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “IDM” (#63,696), “hyperthyroidism” (#63,694), “hyperthermia” (#63,693). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “ignominious” is #63,697. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ignominious is uncommon English at frequency #63,697 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɪɡnəˈmɪniəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Marked by great disgrace, dishonour, humiliation, or shame; disgraceful, shameful.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ignominious, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French or Old French ignominieux, from Latin ignōminiōsus (“disgraceful”), from ignōminia (“loss of a good name, ignominy”), from ig- (“not”) + nomen (“name”) (prefix assimilated form of in-). By surface analysis, ignominy + -ious. The correct English form is ignominious, spelled I-G-N-O-M-I-N-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Marked by great disgrace, dishonour, humiliation, or shame; disgraceful, shameful.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The time when the pseudovirtuous men and women die a painful and ignominious death has yet to come.
  2. Hath he not tvvit our Soueraigne Lady here / VVith ignominious vvords, though Clarkely coucht? / As if ſhe had ſuborned ſome to ſvveare / Falſe allegations, to o'rethrovv his ſtate.

Etymology

From French or Old French ignominieux, from Latin ignōminiōsus (“disgraceful”), from ignōminia (“loss of a good name, ignominy”), from ig- (“not”) + nomen (“name”) (prefix assimilated form of in-). By surface analysis, ignominy + -ious.

This word in other languages

ignominioso(Español)ignominieux(Français)schändlich(Deutsch)

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 "ignominious"?
"ignominious" is spelled I-G-N-O-M-I-N-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪɡnəˈmɪniəs/.
What does "ignominious" mean?
As an adjective, "ignominious" means: Marked by great disgrace, dishonour, humiliation, or shame; disgraceful, shameful.
How do you pronounce "ignominious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ignominious" is /ɪɡnəˈmɪniəs/. 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 "ignominious"?
From French or Old French ignominieux, from Latin ignōminiōsus (“disgraceful”), from ignōminia (“loss of a good name, ignominy”), from ig- (“not”) + nomen (“name”) (prefix assimilated form of in-). By surface analysis, ignominy + -ious. 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 "ignominious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

herringbone#63,682functionary#63,634exploitable#63,608Eurosceptic#63,603

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list