keenness

noun

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

"keenness" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“keenness” is uncommon English (frequency #76,912 among 1,236 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,912
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - sharpness or cutting ability

Corpus desk

Index EN-keenness · keenness · English

keenness · rank #76,912 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,912
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH kennet

Nearest frequency peer: kennet (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “keenness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “keenness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for keenness
PropertyValue
Headwordkeenness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#76,912
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “keenness” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).keennessfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “kennet” (#76,913), “Kazi” (#76,910), “Kennewick” (#76,914). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “keenness” is #76,912. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

keenness is uncommon English at frequency #76,912 among 1,236 “K” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for keenness, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From keen + -ness. The correct English form is keenness, spelled K-E-E-N-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    sharpness or cutting ability
  2. 2
    astuteness or sagacity
  3. 3
    eagerness or enthusiasm

Etymology

From keen + -ness.

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 "keenness"?
"keenness" is spelled K-E-E-N-N-E-S-S.
What does "keenness" mean?
As a noun, "keenness" means: sharpness or cutting ability
What is the origin of the word "keenness"?
From keen + -ness. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "keenness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

jingoism#76,900landward#76,931leftward#76,939Levesque#76,949

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list