militarism

noun

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

The verdict

“militarism” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,049 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#38,049
frequency rank, English
10
letters
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An ideology which claims that the military is the foundation of a society's security, and thereby its most important aspect.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

militarism vs militarily
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for militarism
PropertyValue
Headwordmilitarism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#38,049
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “militarism” 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). militarism lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for militarism is 10 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #38,049 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for militarism, with forms such as "imlitarism", "miiltarism", and "miliatrism". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "militarily", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French militarisme, by surface analysis, military + -ism. The correct English form is militarism, spelled M-I-L-I-T-A-R-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    An ideology which claims that the military is the foundation of a society's security, and thereby its most important aspect.
  2. 2
    A focus on, or excessive use of, military force.

Etymology

From French militarisme, by surface analysis, military + -ism.

Antonyms

anti-militarism

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: imlitarism,miiltarism,miliatrism,militairsm,militarims,militarismm,militarissm,militarrism,militarsim,militraism,milittarism,millitarism,miltiarism,mliitarism,mmilitarism

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of militarism - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

imlitarism2miiltarism2miliatrism2militairsm2militarims2militarismm1militarissm1militarrism1
Edit distance from "militarism"

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 "militarism"?
"militarism" is spelled M-I-L-I-T-A-R-I-S-M.
What does "militarism" mean?
As a noun, "militarism" means: An ideology which claims that the military is the foundation of a society's security, and thereby its most important aspect.
What words are commonly confused with "militarism"?
"militarism" is commonly confused with "militarily". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "militarism"?
From French militarisme, by surface analysis, military + -ism. 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 “militarism”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is M-I-L-I-T-A-R-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “militarily” - see the side-by-side comparison. militarism vs militarily
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list