irrelevancy

noun

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

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

The verdict

“irrelevancy” is an uncommon English word, ranked #98,270 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#98,270
frequency rank, English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The quality of being irrelevant or inapplicable; lack of pertinence or connection.

Key facts for irrelevancy
PropertyValue
Headwordirrelevancy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#98,270
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “irrelevancy” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). irrelevancy lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for irrelevancy is 11 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #98,270 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for irrelevancy, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From ir- + relevancy or irrelevant + -cy. The correct English form is irrelevancy, spelled I-R-R-E-L-E-V-A-N-C-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being irrelevant or inapplicable; lack of pertinence or connection.
  2. 2
    A thing that is irrelevant—having no bearing on the subject of discussion.

Etymology

From ir- + relevancy or irrelevant + -cy.

Synonyms

irrelevance

Antonyms

relevancy

This word in other languages

Belanglosigkeit(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 "irrelevancy"?
"irrelevancy" is spelled I-R-R-E-L-E-V-A-N-C-Y.
What does "irrelevancy" mean?
As a noun, "irrelevancy" means: The quality of being irrelevant or inapplicable; lack of pertinence or connection.
What is the origin of the word "irrelevancy"?
From ir- + relevancy or irrelevant + -cy. 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.

Using “irrelevancy”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is I-R-R-E-L-E-V-A-N-C-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list