performativity
noun
performativity is spelled P-E-R-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y: 14 letters. It appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 134,976th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, performativity means “The capacity of language and expressive actions to perform a type of being” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of performativity is performativities.
How many letters and syllables are in performativity?
| Letters | 14: P-E-R-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 20 million words; the 134,976th 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 performativity?
Performativity appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 134,976th 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).
Forms of performativity
- performativities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does performativity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The capacity of language and expressive actions to perform a type of being.
- 2
The quality of being performative.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Performativity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | performativité |
| German | Performativität |
| Spanish | performatividad |
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 performativity come from?
From performative + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).