prime minister

/ˌpɹaɪ(m)ˈmɪnɪstə(ɹ)/

//ˌpɹaɪ(m)ˈmɪnɪstə(ɹ)// noun

"prime-minister" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The chief member of the cabinet and head of the government, especially in a parliamentary democracy; often the leader of the majority party.

Corpus desk

Index EN-prime-minister · prime minister · English

prime minister · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 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 prime minister
PropertyValue
Headwordprime minister
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌpɹaɪ(m)ˈmɪnɪstə(ɹ)/
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “prime minister” in English

prime ministersits 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

prime minister is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌpɹaɪ(m)ˈmɪnɪstə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The chief member of the cabinet and head of the government, especially in a parliamentary democracy; often the leader of the majority party.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for prime minister, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of French premier ministre. The correct English form is prime minister, spelled P-R-I-M-E- -M-I-N-I-S-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The chief member of the cabinet and head of the government, especially in a parliamentary democracy; often the leader of the majority party.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. This is a list of all prime ministers since Churchill.
  2. Yesterday we had a visit from the Prime Minister / prime minister.

Etymology

Calque of French premier ministre.

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 "prime minister"?
"prime minister" is spelled P-R-I-M-E- -M-I-N-I-S-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌpɹaɪ(m)ˈmɪnɪstə(ɹ)/.
What does "prime minister" mean?
As a noun, "prime minister" means: The chief member of the cabinet and head of the government, especially in a parliamentary democracy; often the leader of the majority party.
How do you pronounce "prime minister"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "prime minister" is /ˌpɹaɪ(m)ˈmɪnɪstə(ɹ)/. 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 "prime minister"?
Calque of French premier ministre. 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