politic
/ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/
"politic" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“politic” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,629 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #37,629
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or relating to polity, or civil government; political.
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 | politic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #37,629 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “politic” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for politic is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,629 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1Of or relating to polity, or civil government; political.
- 2Relating to, or promoting, a policy, especially a national policy; well-devised; adapted to its end, whether right or wrong.
- 3Sagacious 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
- 4Shrewd, prudent and expedient; showing policy.
- 5Discreet and diplomatic.
- 6Artful, crafty or cunning.
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
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.
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
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Using “politic”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-L-I-T-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “polity” - see the side-by-side comparison. politic vs polity
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.