irreverence

noun

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

The verdict

“irreverence” is an uncommon English word, ranked #69,145 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#69,145
frequency rank, English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state or quality of being irreverent; want of proper reverence; disregard of the authority and character of a superior.

Key facts for irreverence
PropertyValue
Headwordirreverence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#69,145
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “irreverence” 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). irreverence 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 irreverence is 11 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #69,145 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "The state or quality of being irreverent; want of proper reverence; disregard of the authority and character of a superior.".

Zero misspellings are on record for irreverence in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English irreverence, from Latin irreverentia, from irreverēns (“irreverent”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns). By surface analysis, ir- + reverence. The correct English form is irreverence, spelled I-R-R-E-V-E-R-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state or quality of being irreverent; want of proper reverence; disregard of the authority and character of a superior.

Etymology

From Middle English irreverence, from Latin irreverentia, from irreverēns (“irreverent”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns). By surface analysis, ir- + reverence.

This word in other languages

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 "irreverence"?
"irreverence" is spelled I-R-R-E-V-E-R-E-N-C-E.
What does "irreverence" mean?
As a noun, "irreverence" means: The state or quality of being irreverent; want of proper reverence; disregard of the authority and character of a superior.
What is the origin of the word "irreverence"?
From Middle English irreverence, from Latin irreverentia, from irreverēns (“irreverent”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns). By surface analysis, ir- + reverence. 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 “irreverence”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is I-R-R-E-V-E-R-E-N-C-E - 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