perplexity
/pəˈplɛksɪti/
"perplexity" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“perplexity” is an uncommon English word, ranked #80,752 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #80,752
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state or quality of being perplexed.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perplexity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pəˈplɛksɪti/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #80,752 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perplexity” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for perplexity is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pəˈplɛksɪti/. Corpus data places it at rank #80,752 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for perplexity, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English perplexite, borrowed from Middle French perplexité or post-classical Latin perplexitās, from perplexus (“entangled”). By surface analysis, perplex + -ity. The correct English form is perplexity, spelled P-E-R-P-L-E-X-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The state or quality of being perplexed.
- 2Something that perplexes.
- 3A measure of how well a probability distribution or model predicts a sample.
Etymology
From Middle English perplexite, borrowed from Middle French perplexité or post-classical Latin perplexitās, from perplexus (“entangled”). By surface analysis, perplex + -ity.
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
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Using “perplexity”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-P-L-E-X-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pəˈplɛksɪti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.