literalism
"literalism" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“literalism” is uncommon English (frequency #92,809 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #92,809
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Literal interpretation or understanding; adherence to the exact letter or precise significance, as in interpreting or translating.
Corpus desk
Index EN-literalism · literalism · English
literalism · rank #92,809 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #92,809
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH lineout
Nearest frequency peer: lineout (-2 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 “literalism”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Levite
Levite
7,197 corpus weight
- lineout
lineout
7,194 corpus weight
- literalism
literalism
7,192 corpus weight
- localhost
localhost
7,190 corpus weight
- lof
lof
7,189 corpus weight
- longform
longform
7,186 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “literalism” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | literalism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #92,809 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “literalism” in English
Rare enough to double-check
literalism is uncommon English at frequency #92,809 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for literalism, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From literal + -ism. The correct English form is literalism, spelled L-I-T-E-R-A-L-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1Literal interpretation or understanding; adherence to the exact letter or precise significance, as in interpreting or translating.
- 2The style of art portraying a subject as literally and accurately as possible.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how literalism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Elsewhere, the liturgiologists were said to have "disembowelled the language of the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible" and produced in its place "the bland literalisms of Series 3 and the ASB[.]"
Furthermore, what would otherwise be good points about the sort of selective literalism that renders homosexuality an unpardonable sin but shrugs off Sarah Palin’s biblically forbidden pearl earrings are lost in Eichenwald’s assumption that evangelicals make these decisions “with less care than they exercise in selecting side orders for lunch.”
Etymology
From literal + -ism.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "literalism", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).