Pharisee
/ˈfɛɹɪsiː/
"pharisee" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Pharisee” is uncommon English (frequency #69,332 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #69,332
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A member of an ancient Jewish political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 B.C.E.–70 C.E.). The movement was ultimately t...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Pharisee |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɛɹɪsiː/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #69,332 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Pharisee” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Pharisee is uncommon English at frequency #69,332 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɛɹɪsiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for Pharisee in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Pharisaeus, from Ancient Greek Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaîos), a transliteration of Aramaic פְּרִישַׁיָּא (pərîšayyâ’), emphatic plural of פְּרִישׁ (pərîš, “separatist”, literally “separated”), related to Hebrew פרוש (parush), qal passive participle of t… The correct English form is Pharisee, spelled P-H-A-R-I-S-E-E.
Definition
- 1A member of an ancient Jewish political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 B.C.E.–70 C.E.). The movement was ultimately the basis for most contemporary forms of Judaism.
- 2A person who values the letter of the law over its spirit or intention.
Etymology
From Latin Pharisaeus, from Ancient Greek Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaîos), a transliteration of Aramaic פְּרִישַׁיָּא (pərîšayyâ’), emphatic plural of פְּרִישׁ (pərîš, “separatist”, literally “separated”), related to Hebrew פרוש (parush), qal passive participle of the verb פָּרַשׁ (pāraš), meaning one who is separated for a life of purity.
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
How do you spell "Pharisee"?
What does "Pharisee" mean?
How do you pronounce "Pharisee"?
What is the origin of the word "Pharisee"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Pharisee”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-H-A-R-I-S-E-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɛɹɪsiː/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.