privatize
/ˈpɹaɪvətaɪz/
"privatize" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“privatize” is uncommon English (frequency #50,165 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,165
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To release government control (of a business or industry) to private industry.
Corpus desk
Index EN-privatize · privatize · English
privatize · rank #50,165 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,165
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH prolapse
Nearest frequency peer: prolapse (+1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “privatize”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- PMQs
PMQs
49,842 corpus weight
- predominance
predominance
49,840 corpus weight
- prepayment
prepayment
49,838 corpus weight
- privatize
privatize
49,836 corpus weight
- prolapse
prolapse
49,835 corpus weight
- Puebla
Puebla
49,832 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “privatize” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | privatize |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpɹaɪvətaɪz/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #50,165 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “privatize” in English
Rare enough to double-check
privatize is uncommon English at frequency #50,165 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈpɹaɪvətaɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for privatize, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From private + -ize. The correct English form is privatize, spelled P-R-I-V-A-T-I-Z-E.
Definition
- 1To release government control (of a business or industry) to private industry.
- 2To render (a variable, etc.) private in scope.
- 3To render a thought or an idea, private in scope.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how privatize appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
If the compiler allocates a privatized variable to a register, it must examine whether the variable is live after the termination of the while-loop.
The neoliberal, privatizing version of health in which everyone is responsible for themselves, despite disparities in resources.
Etymology
From private + -ize.
Synonyms
Antonyms
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "privatize", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).