presentiment

/prɪˈzɛn.tɪ.mənt/

//prɪˈzɛn.tɪ.mənt// noun

"presentiment" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen.

Corpus desk

Index EN-presentiment · presentiment · English

presentiment · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 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.

Key facts for presentiment
PropertyValue
Headwordpresentiment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/prɪˈzɛn.tɪ.mənt/
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “presentiment” in English

presentimentsits 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

presentiment is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /prɪˈzɛn.tɪ.mənt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for presentiment, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French pressentiment, from Middle French, equivalent to pre- + sentiment. The correct English form is presentiment, spelled P-R-E-S-E-N-T-I-M-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A man, my good Sir, has seldom an offer of kindness to make to a woman, but she has a presentiment of it some moments before.
  2. A thousand alarming presentiments of evil to her beloved Catherine from this terrific separation must oppress her heart with sadness, and drown her in tears for the last day or two of their being together; […]

Etymology

From French pressentiment, from Middle French, equivalent to pre- + sentiment.

Synonyms

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 "presentiment"?
"presentiment" is spelled P-R-E-S-E-N-T-I-M-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /prɪˈzɛn.tɪ.mənt/.
What does "presentiment" mean?
As a noun, "presentiment" means: A premonition; a feeling that something, often of undesirable nature, is going to happen.
How do you pronounce "presentiment"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "presentiment" is /prɪˈzɛn.tɪ.mənt/. 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 "presentiment"?
From French pressentiment, from Middle French, equivalent to pre- + sentiment. 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