parasympathetic
/ˌpa.ɹə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/
"parasympathetic" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“parasympathetic” is an uncommon English word, ranked #68,519 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #68,519
- frequency rank, English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that inhibits or opposes the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of ...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | parasympathetic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌpa.ɹə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Frequency rank | #68,519 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “parasympathetic” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for parasympathetic is 15 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌpa.ɹə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #68,519 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Of or relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that inhibits or opposes the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of ...".
parasympathetic has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From para- (“beside, adjacent to”) + sympathetic, because some of these nerves run alongside sympathetic nerves. The correct English form is parasympathetic, spelled P-A-R-A-S-Y-M-P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.
Definition
- 1Of or relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that inhibits or opposes the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands.
Etymology
From para- (“beside, adjacent to”) + sympathetic, because some of these nerves run alongside sympathetic nerves.
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); 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
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Using “parasympathetic”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-R-A-S-Y-M-P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌpa.ɹə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/ (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.