pareidolia
par·ei·do·lia/ˌpæɹ.aɪˈdəʊ.li.ə/noun
pareidolia is spelled P-A-R-E-I-D-O-L-I-A: 10 letters and 4 syllables (par·ei·do·lia). It appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 139,999th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pareidolia means “The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals, seeing shapes in clouds…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pareidolia is pareidolias.
How many letters and syllables are in pareidolia?
| Letters | 10: P-A-R-E-I-D-O-L-I-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: par·ei·do·lia |
| In writing | about once in every 21 million words; the 139,999th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is pareidolia?
Pareidolia appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 139,999th 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 pareidolia?
- UK /ˌpæɹ.aɪˈdəʊ.li.ə/
- /ˌpæɹ.iˈdoʊ.li.ə/
- /ˌpæɹ.aɪˈdoʊ.li.ə/
Pareidolia has 4 syllables, split par·ei·do·lia in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pareidolia.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pareidolia
- pareidolias plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pareidolia mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals, seeing shapes in clouds, or hearing hidden messages in music.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pareidolia in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | paréidolie |
| German | Pareidolie |
| Portuguese | pareidolia |
| Spanish | pareidolia |
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 pareidolia come from?
Borrowed from German Pareidolie, constructed from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, “alongside”) + εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image”) + -ία (-ía). By surface analysis, par- + eidolia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).