pious
/ˈpaɪəs/
"pious" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pious” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,417. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #19,417
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, god-fearing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pious · pious · English
pious · rank #19,417 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #19,417
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH perjury
Nearest frequency peer: perjury (-2 rank slots)
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “pious”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- patriarch
patriarch
80,588 corpus weight
- penthouse
penthouse
80,587 corpus weight
- perjury
perjury
80,586 corpus weight
- pious
pious
80,584 corpus weight
- Potomac
Potomac
80,582 corpus weight
- powdered
powdered
80,581 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “pious” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpaɪəs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #19,417 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pious” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around pious (IPA /ˈpaɪəs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #19,417 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for pious, with forms such as "ipous", "piosu", and "piouss". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pos", "pus", "plus", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pewH- Proto-Italic *pwījosder. Latin piusbor. English pious Borrowed from Latin pīus (“pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“pure”). Cognate with Old English fǣle (“faithful, trusty, g… The correct English form is pious, spelled P-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, god-fearing.
- 2Relating to religion or religious works.
- 3Insisting on or making a show of one's own virtue, especially in comparison to others; sanctimonious, condescending, judgmental.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Old Deacon Smith was quick to see the impression made by Abby Howard upon the mind of his son, and he was wonderfully pleased thereat, for Abby was the oldest daughter of the good Deacon Howard, and was herself a church member, and pious. He had more hope for his son now, than he had felt for years.
Its male residents dress like crows: heavy black suits, black Borsalino hats, the old grandfathers hugely whiskered and the boys in peot, the curled sidelocks of the pious.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pewH- Proto-Italic *pwījosder. Latin piusbor. English pious Borrowed from Latin pīus (“pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“pure”). Cognate with Old English fǣle (“faithful, trusty, good; dear, beloved”). More at feal.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ipous
- piosu
- piouss
- piuos
- poius
- ppious
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pious - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pious", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "pious". Here's where to go from here.
- "pious" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pos". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #19,417 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.