power politics

noun

"power-politics" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“power politics” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A form of international relations in which sovereign entities protect their own interests by threatening one another with military, economic or political aggression.

Key facts for power politics
PropertyValue
Headwordpower politics
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “power politics” sits in English frequency

power politics falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

power politics is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A form of international relations in which sovereign entities protect their own interests by threatening one another with military, economic or political aggression.".

power politics doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of German Machtpolitik. The correct English form is power politics, spelled P-O-W-E-R- -P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A form of international relations in which sovereign entities protect their own interests by threatening one another with military, economic or political aggression.

Etymology

Calque of German Machtpolitik.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "power politics"?
"power politics" is spelled P-O-W-E-R- -P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S.
What does "power politics" mean?
As a noun, "power politics" means: A form of international relations in which sovereign entities protect their own interests by threatening one another with military, economic or political aggression.
What is the origin of the word "power politics"?
Calque of German Machtpolitik. 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.

Using “power politics”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-O-W-E-R- -P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list