perfectionism
per·fec·tio·ni·sm/pɚˈfɛk.ʃə.nɪ.zm̩/noun
perfectionism is spelled P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N-I-S-M: 13 letters and 5 syllables (per·fec·tio·ni·sm). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, perfectionism means “An unwillingness to settle for anything less than perfection” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of perfectionism is perfectionisms.
How many letters and syllables are in perfectionism?
| Letters | 13: P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: per·fec·tio·ni·sm |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th 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 perfectionism?
Perfectionism appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th 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 perfectionism?
- UK /pəˈfɛk.ʃ(ə).nɪ.z(ə)m/
- US /pɚˈfɛk.ʃə.nɪ.zm̩/
Perfectionism has 5 syllables, split per·fec·tio·ni·sm in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-perfectionism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of perfectionism
- perfectionisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does perfectionism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An unwillingness to settle for anything less than perfection.
- 2
A belief that spiritual perfection may be achieved during life, or that it should be striven for.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Perfectionism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense unwillingness to settle for anything less than perfection:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | perfectionnisme |
| German | Perfektionismus |
| Portuguese | perfeccionismo |
| Spanish | perfeccionismo |
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 perfectionism come from?
From perfection + -ism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).