perspicacity
/ˌpɜː.spɪˈkæs.ɪ.ti/
"perspicacity" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“perspicacity” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Acute discernment or understanding; insight.
Corpus desk
Index EN-perspicacity · perspicacity · English
perspicacity · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perspicacity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌpɜː.spɪˈkæs.ɪ.ti/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “perspicacity” in English
Rare enough to double-check
perspicacity is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌpɜː.spɪˈkæs.ɪ.ti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
perspicacity has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From From perspicac(ious) + -ity, from Middle French perspicacité, from Latin perspicācitās (“sharpsightedness, discrimination”), from perspicio, from per- + specio, "see through (something)". The correct English form is perspicacity, spelled P-E-R-S-P-I-C-A-C-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Acute discernment or understanding; insight.
- 2The human faculty or power to mentally grasp or understand clearly.
- 3Keen eyesight.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how perspicacity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"I understand," I said. "The fact is that you have the money." His face brightened. He seemed pleased at my perspicacity.
The citizens chose a university. They reasoned, with considerable perspicacity, that taxes come and go in response to political considerations, but a university, once established, is a permanent benefit to a city and a nation.
Etymology
From From perspicac(ious) + -ity, from Middle French perspicacité, from Latin perspicācitās (“sharpsightedness, discrimination”), from perspicio, from per- + specio, "see through (something)".
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.