potpourri
/ˌpəʊ.pəˈɹiː/
"potpourri" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“potpourri” is uncommon English (frequency #60,385 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #60,385
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A collection of various things; an assortment, mixed bag or motley.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | potpourri |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌpəʊ.pəˈɹiː/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #60,385 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “potpourri” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
potpourri is uncommon English at frequency #60,385 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌpəʊ.pəˈɹiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for potpourri, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French pot-pourri (“stew, potpourri”), a calque of Spanish olla podrida (“stew”, literally “rotten pot”). Doublet of olla podrida. The correct English form is potpourri, spelled P-O-T-P-O-U-R-R-I.
Definition
- 1A collection of various things; an assortment, mixed bag or motley.
- 2An anthology of miscellaneous prose.
- 3A medley of songs or music.
- 4A mixture of dried fragrant plant material, often in a decorative bowl, used to scent a room.
- 5A ragout or stew of meat and vegetables.
Etymology
From French pot-pourri (“stew, potpourri”), a calque of Spanish olla podrida (“stew”, literally “rotten pot”). Doublet of olla podrida.
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
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Using “potpourri”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-T-P-O-U-R-R-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌpəʊ.pəˈɹiː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.