phonemic

/fəˈniː.mɪk/

//fəˈniː.mɪk// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"phonemic" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“phonemic” is uncommon English (frequency #56,977 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,977
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Relating to phonemes.

Key facts for phonemic
PropertyValue
Headwordphonemic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/fəˈniː.mɪk/
Letters8
Frequency rank#56,977
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “phonemic” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). phonemic lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

phonemic is uncommon English at frequency #56,977 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /fəˈniː.mɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for phonemic in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From phoneme + -ic. The correct English form is phonemic, spelled P-H-O-N-E-M-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Relating to phonemes.
  2. 2
    Relating to a difference between sounds that can change the meaning of words in a language.
  3. 3
    Corresponding precisely and consistently with the phonemes.

Etymology

From phoneme + -ic.

This word in other languages

phonémique(Français)phonemisch(Deutsch)

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 "phonemic"?
"phonemic" is spelled P-H-O-N-E-M-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /fəˈniː.mɪk/.
What does "phonemic" mean?
As an adjective, "phonemic" means: Relating to phonemes.
How do you pronounce "phonemic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "phonemic" is /fəˈniː.mɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "phonemic"?
From phoneme + -ic. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “phonemic”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-H-O-N-E-M-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /fəˈniː.mɪk/ (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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list