prepossessing
"prepossessing" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prepossessing” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tending to invite favor; attracting confidence, favor, esteem, or love; attractive
Corpus desk
Index EN-prepossessing · prepossessing · English
prepossessing · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | prepossessing |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “prepossessing” in English
Rare enough to double-check
prepossessing is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for prepossessing in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pre- + possess. Attested in 1610s with the meaning of "getting possession of (ground or land) beforehand". The meaning "to possess (a person) beforehand with a feeling, notion, etc." developed in 1630s, acquiring by the 40s of the same century the mean… The correct English form is prepossessing, spelled P-R-E-P-O-S-S-E-S-S-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Tending to invite favor; attracting confidence, favor, esteem, or love; attractive
- 2Causing prejudice.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how prepossessing appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"I am a great advocate for timidity—and I am sure one does not often meet with it.—But in those who are at all inferior, it is extremely prepossessing."
Our curate is a young gentleman of such prepossessing appearance, and fascinating manners, that within one month after his first appearance in the parish, half the young-lady inhabitants were melancholy with religion, and the other half, desponding with love.
Etymology
From pre- + possess. Attested in 1610s with the meaning of "getting possession of (ground or land) beforehand". The meaning "to possess (a person) beforehand with a feeling, notion, etc." developed in 1630s, acquiring by the 40s of the same century the meaning of "to cause (someone) to have a favorable opinion of something, preoccupy the mind or heart of".
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.