professorial
/ˌprɒfəˈsɔːɹiəl/adjective
professorial is spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S-O-R-I-A-L: 12 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, professorial means “Of, relating to, or characteristic of a professor or professors, or of a professorship or professorships” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in professorial?
| Letters | 12: P-R-O-F-E-S-S-O-R-I-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 57,423rd 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 professorial?
Professorial appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd 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 professorial?
- /ˌprɒfəˈsɔːɹiəl/
- /prəˌfɛˈsɔːɹiəl/
Professorial 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)-Neøn-professorial.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of professorial
- more professorial comparative
- most professorial superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does professorial mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of, relating to, or characteristic of a professor or professors, or of a professorship or professorships.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Professorial in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in the capacity of a professor:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | professoral |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does professorial come from?
From Latin professōrius (“professiorial; authoritative”) + -al. By surface analysis, professor + -ial.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).