prepossessing
adjective, verb
prepossessing is spelled P-R-E-P-O-S-S-E-S-S-I-N-G: 13 letters. It appears about once in every 24 million words in written English, the 148,541st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, prepossessing means “Tending to invite favor; attracting confidence, favor, esteem, or love; attractive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prepossessing?
| Letters | 13: P-R-E-P-O-S-S-E-S-S-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 24 million words; the 148,541st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prepossessing?
Prepossessing appears about once in every 24 million words in written English, the 148,541st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of prepossessing
- more prepossessing comparative
- most prepossessing superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prepossessing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Tending to invite favor; attracting confidence, favor, esteem, or love; attractive
- 2
archaicCausing prejudice.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of prepossess
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prepossessing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense tending to invite favour; attractive:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | avenant |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prepossessing come from?
From prepossess + -ing. 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".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).