journalism
/ˈd͡ʒɜːn(ə)lɪzəm/
"journalism" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“journalism” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,890 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,890
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The aggregating, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles for widespread distribution, typically in electronic publications, broadcast news media, or printed newspapers or periodic...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | journalism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒɜːn(ə)lɪzəm/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #5,890 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “journalism” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for journalism is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒɜːn(ə)lɪzəm/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,890 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "The aggregating, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles for widespread distribution, typically in electronic publications, broadcast news media, or printed newspapers or periodic...".
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for journalism, with forms such as "jjournalism", "jorunalism", and "jounralism". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "journalist", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French journalisme (beginning of 19th century). By surface analysis, journal + -ism. The correct English form is journalism, spelled J-O-U-R-N-A-L-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1The aggregating, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles for widespread distribution, typically in electronic publications, broadcast news media, or printed newspapers or periodicals, for the purpose of informing the audience, relying on a style of writing characteristic for this purpose, consisting of direct presentation of facts or events and (depending on type) either with or without analysis or interpretation.
Etymology
From French journalisme (beginning of 19th century). By surface analysis, journal + -ism.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: jjournalism,jorunalism,jounralism,jouranlism,journailsm,journalims,journalismm,journalissm,journallism,journalsim,journlaism,journnalism,jourrnalism,juornalism,ojurnalism
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of journalism - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "journalism"?
What does "journalism" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "journalism"?
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What is the origin of the word "journalism"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “journalism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is J-O-U-R-N-A-L-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈd͡ʒɜːn(ə)lɪzəm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “journalist” - see the side-by-side comparison. journalism vs journalist
- 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.