politic

/ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/

//ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk// adj

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

"politic" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“politic” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,629. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#37,629
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or relating to polity, or civil government; political.

Corpus desk

Index EN-politic · politic · English

politic · rank #37,629 · 10 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #37,629
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH plexus

Nearest frequency peer: plexus (-1 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “politic”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “politic” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

politic vs polity
71% similar
politic vs politics
88% similar
politic vs prolific
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for politic
PropertyValue
Headwordpolitic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/
Letters7
Frequency rank#37,629
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “politic”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).politiclands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “plexus” (#37,628), “poncho” (#37,630), “poolside” (#37,631). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “politic” is #37,629. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around politic (IPA /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #37,629 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for politic, with forms such as "oplitic", "ploitic", and "poiltic". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "polity", "politics", "prolific", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French politique, from Latin politicus, from Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”). Cognate with German politisch (“political”). Doublet of politico. The correct English form is politic, spelled P-O-L-I-T-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or relating to polity, or civil government; political.
  2. 2
    Relating to, or promoting, a policy, especially a national policy; well-devised; adapted to its end, whether right or wrong.
  3. 3
    Sagacious in promoting a policy; ingenious in devising and advancing a system of management; devoted to a scheme or system rather than to a principle; hence, in a good sense, wise; prudent; sagacious
  4. 4
    Shrewd, prudent and expedient; showing policy.
  5. 5
    Discreet and diplomatic.
  6. 6
    Artful, crafty or cunning.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how politic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. the body politic
  2. [H]e with his people made all but one politic body whereof himself was the head

Etymology

From Middle French politique, from Latin politicus, from Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”). Cognate with German politisch (“political”). Doublet of politico.

Antonyms

impolitic

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oplitic
  • ploitic
  • poiltic
  • poliitc
  • politci
  • politicc
  • polittic
  • pollitic
  • poltiic
  • ppolitic

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of politic - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

oplitic2ploitic2poiltic2poliitc2politci2politicc1polittic1pollitic1
Edit distance from "politic"

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 "politic"?
"politic" is spelled P-O-L-I-T-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/.
What does "politic" mean?
As an adjective, "politic" means: Of or relating to polity, or civil government; political.
What words are commonly confused with "politic"?
"politic" is commonly confused with "polity", "politics", "prolific". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "politic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "politic" is /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/. 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 "politic"?
From Middle French politique, from Latin politicus, from Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”). Cognate with German politisch (“political”). Doublet of politico. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "politic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

parkour#37,621presser#37,639pythons#37,645Quigley#37,648

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

osmosis10 variantsreseller10 variantsmoronic10 variantsModesto10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list