nincompoop
/ˈnɪŋkəmpuːp/
"nincompoop" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nincompoop” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A foolish or silly person.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nincompoop |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɪŋkəmpuːp/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nincompoop” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nincompoop is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnɪŋkəmpuːp/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A foolish or silly person.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for nincompoop in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Uncertain; the first element nincom- is possibly from the name Nicholas or Nicodemus (compare French nicodème (“foolish or gullible person”), from the Pharisee named Nicodemus mentioned in the Bible who asks Jesus seemingly naive questions: see John 3:1–21)… The correct English form is nincompoop, spelled N-I-N-C-O-M-P-O-O-P.
Definition
- 1A foolish or silly person.
Etymology
Uncertain; the first element nincom- is possibly from the name Nicholas or Nicodemus (compare French nicodème (“foolish or gullible person”), from the Pharisee named Nicodemus mentioned in the Bible who asks Jesus seemingly naive questions: see John 3:1–21), or from ninny (“foolish or silly person”), while the second element -poop could be derived from poop (“(obsolete) to cheat, deceive, fool”). The English lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) suggested that the first element might be from Latin non compos (mentis) (“not of sound mind”), but the Oxford English Dictionary notes that this does not correspond with early forms of the word from the 16th century such as nickumpoop and nicompoop.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “nincompoop”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-I-N-C-O-M-P-O-O-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnɪŋkəmpuːp/ (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
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.