McCarthyism
/məˈkɑː.θi.ɪzəm/
"mccarthyism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“McCarthyism” is uncommon English (frequency #54,326 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,326
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The mass pressure, harassment, and/or blacklisting used to pressure people to follow popular political beliefs, especially as opposed to communism.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mccarthyism · McCarthyism · English
McCarthyism · rank #54,326 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #54,326
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH Marinas
Nearest frequency peer: Marinas (-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 “McCarthyism”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- marchant
marchant
45,677 corpus weight
- Marinas
Marinas
45,676 corpus weight
- McCarthyism
McCarthyism
45,675 corpus weight
- McCourt
McCourt
45,674 corpus weight
- McCurdy
McCurdy
45,673 corpus weight
- McGinn
McGinn
45,672 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “McCarthyism” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | McCarthyism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /məˈkɑː.θi.ɪzəm/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #54,326 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “McCarthyism” in English
Rare enough to double-check
McCarthyism is uncommon English at frequency #54,326 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /məˈkɑː.θi.ɪzəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The mass pressure, harassment, and/or blacklisting used to pressure people to follow popular political beliefs, especially as opposed to communism.".
Zero misspellings are on record for McCarthyism in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Irish Mac Carthaighbor. English McCarthy Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μό… The correct English form is McCarthyism, spelled M-C-C-A-R-T-H-Y-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1The mass pressure, harassment, and/or blacklisting used to pressure people to follow popular political beliefs, especially as opposed to communism.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how McCarthyism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This is McMuskism: it’s McCarthyism on steroids, political persecution + Trump + Musk + Silicon Valley surveillance tools. It’s the dawn of a new age of political witch-hunts, where burning at the stake meets data harvesting and online mobs.
Etymology
Etymology tree Irish Mac Carthaighbor. English McCarthy Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English McCarthyism From McCarthy + -ism, named after United States Senator Joseph McCarthy. Originates from a 1950 Washington Post political cartoon by Herbert Block.
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 "McCarthyism", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).