official
of·fi·cial/əˈfɪʃəl/adjective, noun
official is spelled O-F-F-I-C-I-A-L, 3 syllables: of·fi·cial. The wrong spelling people search most is offical: about 770 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Official is an adjective meaning “Of or about an office or public trust”.
How many letters and syllables are in official?
| Letters | 8: O-F-F-I-C-I-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: of·fi·cial |
| In writing | 138 times per million words; the 756th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, offical, about 770 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell official?
Official is spelled O-F-F-I-C-I-A-L. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for official in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is official?
Official appears 138 times per million words in written English, the 756th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce official?
- US /əˈfɪʃəl/
- US [əˈfɪʃəl] ~ [əˈfɪʃɫ̩]
Official has 3 syllables, split of·fi·cial in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-official.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with official?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as official from its last stressed vowel (/ɪʃəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of official
- more official comparative
- most official superlative
- officials plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does official mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or about an office or public trust.
official duties
- 2
Derived from the proper office or officer, or the appropriate authority; made or communicated by authority
an official statement or report
- 3
Approved by authority; authorized.
The Official Strategy Guide
- 4
Dubious but recognized by authorities as the truth or canon.
Despite these testimonies, "accidental asphyxiation" remains his official cause of death.
- 5
Sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal.
an official drug or preparation
- 6
Discharging an office or function.
- 7
Relating to an office, especially a subordinate executive officer or attendant.
- 8
Relating to an ecclesiastical judge appointed by a bishop, chapter, archdeacon, etc., with charge of the spiritual jurisdiction.
noun
- 1
An office holder, a person holding an official position in government, sports, or other organization.
Officials in the Firefly administration assure the Sylvanians they don't want war either.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate official?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of official: ofcl, offish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Official in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | oficial , funcionário |
| Spanish | oficial , funcionario |
| French | cadre, fonctionnaire , officiel , juge, arbitre |
| German | Beamter, Beamtin , offiziell , amtlich, dienstlich |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does official come from?
From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office + -ial.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).