prepossessing
"prepossessing" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prepossessing” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tending to invite favor; attracting confidence, favor, esteem, or love; attractive
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | prepossessing |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “prepossessing” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for prepossessing is 13 letters long, classified as an adjective. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “prepossessing”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-E-P-O-S-S-E-S-S-I-N-G - 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.