incivility
in·ci·vil·i·ty/ɪnsɪˈvɪlɪti/noun
incivility is spelled I-N-C-I-V-I-L-I-T-Y: 10 letters and 5 syllables (in·ci·vil·i·ty). It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, incivility means “The state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of incivility is incivilities.
How many letters and syllables are in incivility?
| Letters | 10: I-N-C-I-V-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: in·ci·vil·i·ty |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 84,254th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is incivility?
Incivility appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th 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 incivility?
- /ɪnsɪˈvɪlɪti/
Incivility has 5 syllables, split in·ci·vil·i·ty in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-incivility.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of incivility
- incivilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does incivility mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner.
- 2
Any act of rudeness or ill-breeding.
When my poor Sidebottom was alive, if there had been any unpleasantness between us during the day … I have shaken him at night to wake him up, that he might receive my pardon for an incivility said or done.
- 3
Lack of civilization; a state of rudeness or barbarism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Incivility in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | incivilité |
| German | unhöfliches Benehmen, Unhöflichkeit, Grobheit |
| Portuguese | incivilidade |
| Spanish | incivilidad |
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 incivility come from?
From Middle French incivilité, from Late Latin incivilitas (“incivility”), from Latin incivilis (“impolite, uncivil”), from in- (privative prefix) + civilis (“belonging to a citizen, civic, political, urbane, courteous, civil”) (from civis (“a citizen”)), equivalent to in- + civility.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).