intricacy
/ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kə.si/noun
intricacy is spelled I-N-T-R-I-C-A-C-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, intricacy means “The state or quality of being intricate or entangled” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of intricacy is intricacies.
How many letters and syllables are in intricacy?
| Letters | 9: I-N-T-R-I-C-A-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 64,400th 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 intricacy?
Intricacy appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th 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 intricacy?
- /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kə.si/
- /ɪnˈtɹɪ.kə.si/
Intricacy has 4 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-intricacy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of intricacy
- intricacies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does intricacy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state or quality of being intricate or entangled.
the intricacy of a knot
- 2
Perplexity.
- 3
Something which is intricate or complex.
There are many intricacies in the plot of this novel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Intricacy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Gewundenheit, Komplexität, Schwierigkeit, Verworrenheit, Verzwicktheit |
| Spanish | vericuetos, entresijos, laberinto, dificultades, complicaciones, obstáculos |
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 intricacy come from?
From intric(ate) + -acy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).