ostentatious
/ˌɒs.tɛnˈteɪ.ʃəs/
"ostentatious" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ostentatious” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #42,802 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #42,802
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of ostentation.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ostentatious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌɒs.tɛnˈteɪ.ʃəs/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #42,802 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ostentatious” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ostentatious is 12 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɒs.tɛnˈteɪ.ʃəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #42,802 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for ostentatious, with forms such as "osetntatious", "osstentatious", and "ostenattious". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. 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: Originated 1590; from Latin ostentātus + -ious. The correct English form is ostentatious, spelled O-S-T-E-N-T-A-T-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Of ostentation.
- 2Intended to attract notice.
- 3Of tawdry display; kitsch.
Etymology
Originated 1590; from Latin ostentātus + -ious.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: osetntatious,osstentatious,ostenattious,ostenntatious,ostentaitous,ostentatiosu,ostentatiouss,ostentatiuos,ostentatoius,ostentattious,ostenttaious,ostenttatious,ostetnatious,ostnetatious,osttentatious,otsentatious,sotentatious
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ostentatious - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "ostentatious"?
What does "ostentatious" mean?
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Using “ostentatious”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-S-T-E-N-T-A-T-I-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɒs.tɛnˈteɪ.ʃəs/ (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.