premonitory

/pɹəˈmɑnɪˌtɔɹi/

//pɹəˈmɑnɪˌtɔɹi// adj

"premonitory" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“premonitory” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Serving as a warning or premonition.

Corpus desk

Index EN-premonitory · premonitory · English

premonitory · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for premonitory
PropertyValue
Headwordpremonitory
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/pɹəˈmɑnɪˌtɔɹi/
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “premonitory” in English

premonitorysits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

premonitory is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /pɹəˈmɑnɪˌtɔɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Serving as a warning or premonition.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for premonitory in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin praemonitōrius. The correct English form is premonitory, spelled P-R-E-M-O-N-I-T-O-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Serving as a warning or premonition.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. […] the captain was plainly too much for the branch, which was drooping toward the water, and emitting sounds premonitory of a smash.
  2. Many conditions formerly thought to be purely functional are now known as premonitory evidences of organic disease, and the prognosis must be guarded accordingly.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praemonitōrius.

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 "premonitory"?
"premonitory" is spelled P-R-E-M-O-N-I-T-O-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /pɹəˈmɑnɪˌtɔɹi/.
What does "premonitory" mean?
As an adjective, "premonitory" means: Serving as a warning or premonition.
How do you pronounce "premonitory"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "premonitory" is /pɹəˈmɑnɪˌtɔɹi/. 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 "premonitory"?
Borrowed from Latin praemonitōrius. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list