passphrase

noun

"passphrase" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“passphrase” is uncommon English (frequency #87,658 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,658
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A password that comprises a whole phrase.

Key facts for passphrase
PropertyValue
Headwordpassphrase
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#87,658
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “passphrase” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). passphrase lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

passphrase is uncommon English at frequency #87,658 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A password that comprises a whole phrase.".

passphrase doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From pass + phrase. The correct English form is passphrase, spelled P-A-S-S-P-H-R-A-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A password that comprises a whole phrase.

Etymology

From pass + phrase.

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "passphrase"?
"passphrase" is spelled P-A-S-S-P-H-R-A-S-E.
What does "passphrase" mean?
As a noun, "passphrase" means: A password that comprises a whole phrase.
What is the origin of the word "passphrase"?
From pass + phrase. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “passphrase”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-A-S-S-P-H-R-A-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list