parasympathetic
/ˌpɛɹ.ə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/adjective, noun
parasympathetic is spelled P-A-R-A-S-Y-M-P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. The wrong spelling people search most is parasympathic: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 43 of all searches for the word. Parasympathetic is an adjective meaning “Of or relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that inhibits or opposes the effects of the…”.
How many letters and syllables are in parasympathetic?
| Letters | 15: P-A-R-A-S-Y-M-P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 68,248th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, parasympathic, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 parasympathetic?
Parasympathetic is spelled P-A-R-A-S-Y-M-P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 44 of the searches for parasympathetic 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 parasympathetic?
Parasympathetic appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 68,248th 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 parasympathetic?
- UK /ˌpa.ɹə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/
- US /ˌpɛɹ.ə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/
- US /ˌpæɹ.ə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/
Parasympathetic has 6 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What rhymes with parasympathetic?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as parasympathetic from its last stressed vowel (/ɛtɪk/):
- magnetic
- cosmetic
- energetic
- poetic
- electromagnetic
- diabetic
- kinetic
- arithmetic
- prosthetic
- apologetic
- empathetic
- phylogenetic
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 parasympathetic
- parasympathetics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does parasympathetic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
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 the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands.
noun
- 1
A parasympathetic nerve.
- 2
Ellipsis of parasympathetic nervous system.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Parasympathetic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense relating to part of the autonomic nervous system:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | parasympathique |
| Spanish | parasimpático |
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 parasympathetic come from?
From para- (“beside, adjacent to”) + sympathetic, because some of these nerves run alongside sympathetic nerves.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).