librettist

noun

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

"librettist" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“librettist” is uncommon English (frequency #88,536 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#88,536
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The person who writes a libretto.

Corpus desk

Index EN-librettist · librettist · English

librettist · rank #88,536 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #88,536
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Leonore

Nearest frequency peer: Leonore (-3 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 “librettist”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for librettist
PropertyValue
Headwordlibrettist
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#88,536
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “librettist” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).librettistfalls 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: “Leonore” (#88,533), “likability” (#88,540), “lish” (#88,542). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “librettist” is #88,536. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

librettist is uncommon English at frequency #88,536 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The person who writes a libretto.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for librettist in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From libretto + -ist. The correct English form is librettist, spelled L-I-B-R-E-T-T-I-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The person who writes a libretto.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how librettist appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It was secondhand‹make that fourth- or fifthhand. This was from an era before any kind of copyright, when librettists were almost expected to steal from other works.

Etymology

From libretto + -ist.

This word in other languages

libretista(Español)librettiste(Français)Librettist(Deutsch)libretista(Português)

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 "librettist"?
"librettist" is spelled L-I-B-R-E-T-T-I-S-T.
What does "librettist" mean?
As a noun, "librettist" means: The person who writes a libretto.
What is the origin of the word "librettist"?
From libretto + -ist. 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 "librettist", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

likability#88,540Magnificat#88,567Malthusian#88,576marginalia#88,581

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list