profanity

Name: profanity, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/prəˈfænɪti/

//prəˈfænɪti// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“profanity” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,921. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,921
frequency rank, English: 4,417
“P” headwords: 14
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.

Corpus desk

Index EN-profanity · profanity · English

profanity · rank #26,921 · 14 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #26,921
LEN-LONG 9 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 14 variants
BOOK-MID 4,417
PHOTO-FINISH Portman

Nearest frequency peer: Portman (-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.

polarity

73,083
pompous

73,082
Portman

73,081
profanity

73,080
Puig

73,078
pundit

73,077

What this shows “profanity” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for profanity
Property	Value
Headword	profanity
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/prəˈfænɪti/
Letters	9
Frequency rank	#26,921
Misspellings tracked	14
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “profanity”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).profanitylands here:

#26,921

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Portman” (#26,920), “pompous” (#26,919), “Puig” (#26,923). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “profanity” is #26,921. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around profanity (IPA /prəˈfænɪti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #26,921 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for profanity, with forms such as "porfanity", "pprofanity", and "prfoanity". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin profānitās. By surface analysis, profane + -ity. The correct English form is profanity, spelled P-R-O-F-A-N-I-T-Y.

Definition

1
The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.
2
Obscene, lewd or abusive language.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to contemplate acts of impiety and profanity, and to a vivid realisation of the dangers these involved.
He ran up and down the street screaming profanities like a madman.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin profānitās. By surface analysis, profane + -ity.

This word in other languages

impiété(Français)Profanität(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

porfanity
pprofanity
prfoanity
proafnity
profainty
profanitty
profanityy
profaniyt
profannity
profantiy
proffanity
profnaity
prrofanity
rpofanity

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of profanity - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Edit distance from "profanity"

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

How do you spell "profanity"?

"profanity" is spelled P-R-O-F-A-N-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /prəˈfænɪti/.

What does "profanity" mean?

As a noun, "profanity" means: The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.

What are common misspellings of "profanity"?

Common misspellings include "porfanity", "pprofanity", "prfoanity", "proafnity", "profainty". The correct spelling is "profanity".

How do you pronounce "profanity"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "profanity" is /prəˈfænɪti/. 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 "profanity"?

Borrowed from Latin profānitās. By surface analysis, profane + -ity. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "profanity", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Pensacola#26,912 regaining#26,932 palatable#26,907 rehearsed#26,935

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

Nuremberg14 variants masterful14 variants lynching14 variants stimulant14 variants