politics

/ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪks/

//ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪks// noun

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

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

The verdict

“politics” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,434. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,434
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A methodology and activities associated with running a government, an organization, or a movement.

Corpus desk

Index EN-politics · politics · English

politics · rank #1,434 · 12 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,434
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH operations

Nearest frequency peer: operations (-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 “politics”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “politics” 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).

politics vs poetics
75% similar
politics vs politic
88% similar
politics vs policies
75% similar

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

Key facts for politics
PropertyValue
Headwordpolitics
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪks/
Letters8
Frequency rank#1,434
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “politics”

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).politicslands 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 “operations” (#1,433), “pop” (#1,435), “officers” (#1,432). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “politics” is #1,434. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around politics (IPA /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪks/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,434 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for politics, with forms such as "oplitics", "ploitics", and "poiltics". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "poetics", "politic", "policies", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the adjective politic, by analogy with Aristotle’s τά πολῑτῐκᾱ́ (tá polītĭkā́, “affairs of state”). The correct English form is politics, spelled P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A methodology and activities associated with running a government, an organization, or a movement.
  2. 2
    The profession of conducting political affairs.
  3. 3
    One's political stands and opinions.
  4. 4
    Political maneuvers or diplomacy between people, groups, or organizations, especially involving power, standing, influence or conflict.
  5. 5
    Real-world beliefs and social issues irrelevant to the topic at hand.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. There are by now many feminisms (Tong, 1989; Humm, 1992). [...] They are in shifting alliance or contest with postmodern critiques, which at times seem to threaten the very category 'women' and its possibilities for a feminist politics.
  2. He made a career out of politics.

Etymology

From the adjective politic, by analogy with Aristotle’s τά πολῑτῐκᾱ́ (tá polītĭkā́, “affairs of state”).

This word in other languages

política(Español)politique(Français)Politik(Deutsch)política(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oplitics
  • ploitics
  • poiltics
  • poliitcs
  • politcis
  • politiccs
  • politicss
  • politisc
  • polittics
  • pollitics
  • poltiics
  • ppolitics

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of politics - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

oplitics2ploitics2poiltics2poliitcs2politcis2politiccs1politicss1politisc2
Edit distance from "politics"

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 "politics"?
"politics" is spelled P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪks/.
What does "politics" mean?
As a noun, "politics" means: A methodology and activities associated with running a government, an organization, or a movement.
What words are commonly confused with "politics"?
"politics" is commonly confused with "poetics", "politic", "policies". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "politics"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "politics" is /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪks/. 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 "politics"?
From the adjective politic, by analogy with Aristotle’s τά πολῑτῐκᾱ́ (tá polītĭkā́, “affairs of state”). 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 "politics", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

officers#1,432produced#1,436Saturday#1,438activity#1,444

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

executive12 variantsdivision12 variantslocation12 variantschallenge12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list