problematical
adjective
problematical is spelled P-R-O-B-L-E-M-A-T-I-C-A-L: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 111,684th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, problematical means “Doubtful or disputed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in problematical?
| Letters | 13: P-R-O-B-L-E-M-A-T-I-C-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 14 million words; the 111,684th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is problematical?
Problematical appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 111,684th 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).
How do you pronounce problematical?
- US
Problematical has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-NaomiAmethyst-problematical.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of problematical
- more problematical comparative
- most problematical superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does problematical mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Doubtful or disputed.
- 2
Dubious or ambiguous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does problematical come from?
From Latin problēmaticus + -al. By surface analysis, problematic + -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).