pomposity

noun

"pomposity" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pomposity” is uncommon English (frequency #90,852 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,852
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality of being pompous; self-importance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pomposity · pomposity · English

pomposity · rank #90,852 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,852
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Polyphemus

Nearest frequency peer: Polyphemus (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “pomposity”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “pomposity” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for pomposity
PropertyValue
Headwordpomposity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#90,852
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “pomposity” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).pomposityfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “Polyphemus” (#90,851), “powerlifter” (#90,855), “poy” (#90,856). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pomposity” is #90,852. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pomposity is uncommon English at frequency #90,852 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The quality of being pompous; self-importance.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for pomposity, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pomposite (“solemnity”), from Latin pompōsitās. By surface analysis, pomp + -osity. The correct English form is pomposity, spelled P-O-M-P-O-S-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being pompous; self-importance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. With their super-formal tone and heavy use of jargon, legal documents are renowned for their pomposity.

Etymology

From Middle English pomposite (“solemnity”), from Latin pompōsitās. By surface analysis, pomp + -osity.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "pomposity"?
"pomposity" is spelled P-O-M-P-O-S-I-T-Y.
What does "pomposity" mean?
As a noun, "pomposity" means: The quality of being pompous; self-importance.
What is the origin of the word "pomposity"?
From Middle English pomposite (“solemnity”), from Latin pompōsitās. By surface analysis, pomp + -osity. 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 "pomposity", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list