McCarthyism
/məˈkɑː.θi.ɪzəm/
"mccarthyism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“McCarthyism” is uncommon English (frequency #54,326 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,326
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The mass pressure, harassment, and/or blacklisting used to pressure people to follow popular political beliefs, especially as opposed to communism.
| 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) |
Where “McCarthyism” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
McCarthyism is uncommon English at frequency #54,326 among 36,575 “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.
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
How do you spell "McCarthyism"?
What does "McCarthyism" mean?
How do you pronounce "McCarthyism"?
What is the origin of the word "McCarthyism"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “McCarthyism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-C-C-A-R-T-H-Y-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /məˈkɑː.θi.ɪzəm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.