persnickety
/pɚˈsnɪ.kɪ.ti/
"persnickety" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“persnickety” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - US standard form of pernickety.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | persnickety |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pɚˈsnɪ.kɪ.ti/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “persnickety” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for persnickety is 11 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɚˈsnɪ.kɪ.ti/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "US standard form of pernickety.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for persnickety, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scots persnickety, whence also pernickety. More at pernickety. The correct English form is persnickety, spelled P-E-R-S-N-I-C-K-E-T-Y.
Definition
- 1US standard form of pernickety.
Etymology
From Scots persnickety, whence also pernickety. More at pernickety.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “persnickety”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-S-N-I-C-K-E-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɚˈsnɪ.kɪ.ti/ (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.