philosophical
phi·lo·soph·i·cal/ˌfɪl.əˈsɑ.fɪ.kl̩/adjective
philosophical is spelled P-H-I-L-O-S-O-P-H-I-C-A-L, 5 syllables: phi·lo·soph·i·cal. The wrong spelling people search most is philisophical: about 120 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 18 of all searches for the word. Philosophical is an adjective meaning “Of, or pertaining to, philosophy”.
How many letters and syllables are in philosophical?
| Letters | 13: P-H-I-L-O-S-O-P-H-I-C-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: phi·lo·soph·i·cal |
| In writing | 8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, philisophical, about 120 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell philosophical?
Philosophical is spelled P-H-I-L-O-S-O-P-H-I-C-A-L. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 15 of the searches for philosophical in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is philosophical?
Philosophical appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd 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).
How do you pronounce philosophical?
- UK /ˌfɪl.əˈsɒf.ɪ.kl̩/
- US /ˌfɪl.əˈsɑ.fɪ.kl̩/
Philosophical has 5 syllables, split phi·lo·soph·i·cal in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-philosophical.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of philosophical
- more philosophical comparative
- most philosophical superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does philosophical mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of, or pertaining to, philosophy.
- 2
Rational; analytic or critically minded; thoughtful.
- 3
Detached, calm, stoic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Philosophical in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense of or pertaining to philosophy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | philosophisch |
| Portuguese | filosófico |
| Spanish | filosófico, filosofal |
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 philosophical come from?
From philosophy + -ical, from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía, “love of knowledge, scientific learning”). Displaced native Old English ūþwitlīċ.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).