importance
/ɪmˈpoɹtəns/noun
importance is spelled I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-C-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, importance means “The quality or condition of being important or worthy of note” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of importance is importances.
How many letters and syllables are in importance?
| Letters | 10: I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 36 times per million words; the 2,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is importance?
Importance appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce importance?
- UK /ɪmˈpɔːtəns/
- British /ɪmˈpoːtəns/
- US /ɪmˈpoɹtəns/
Importance has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-importance.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of importance
- importances plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does importance mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality or condition of being important or worthy of note.
- 2
significance or prominence.
- 3
personal status or standing.
- 4
Something of importance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Importance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | importance |
| German | Wichtigkeit, Belang |
| Portuguese | importância , status |
| Spanish | importancia |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does importance come from?
From Middle English importaunce, from Middle French importance, from Medieval Latin importantia. By surface analysis, import (“to be important”) + -ance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).