meritocratic

Name: meritocratic, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“meritocratic” is uncommon English (frequency #78,819 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,819
frequency rank, English: 36,575
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pertaining to a meritocracy.

Key facts for meritocratic
Property	Value
Headword	meritocratic
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
Letters	12
Frequency rank	#78,819
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “meritocratic” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). meritocratic lands here:

#78,819

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

meritocratic is uncommon English at frequency #78,819 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pertaining to a meritocracy.".

meritocratic doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From merit + -o- + -cratic or meritocrat + -ic. The correct English form is meritocratic, spelled M-E-R-I-T-O-C-R-A-T-I-C.

Definition

1
Pertaining to a meritocracy.

Etymology

From merit + -o- + -cratic or meritocrat + -ic.

This word in other languages

meritocrático(Español)méritocratique(Français)meritokratisch(Deutsch)meritocrático(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 "meritocratic"?

"meritocratic" is spelled M-E-R-I-T-O-C-R-A-T-I-C.

What does "meritocratic" mean?

As an adjective, "meritocratic" means: Pertaining to a meritocracy.

What is the origin of the word "meritocratic"?

From merit + -o- + -cratic or meritocrat + -ic. 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.

Using “meritocratic”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is M-E-R-I-T-O-C-R-A-T-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
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.