puissant
/ˈpwɪs(ə)nt/
"puissant" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“puissant” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Powerful, mighty, having authority.
Corpus desk
Index EN-puissant · puissant · English
puissant · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | puissant |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpwɪs(ə)nt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “puissant” in English
Rare enough to double-check
puissant is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈpwɪs(ə)nt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Powerful, mighty, having authority.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for puissant, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English puissaunt, from Middle French puissant, poissant, Anglo-Norman puissant, Old French pussant, et al., present participle of pooir (“to be able”), ultimately from Latin posse (“be able”). The correct English form is puissant, spelled P-U-I-S-S-A-N-T.
Definition
- 1Powerful, mighty, having authority.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how puissant appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, / And with your puissant arm renew their feats.
For who can yet believe, though after loss, That all these puissant legions, whose exile Hath emptied Heaven, shall fail to re-ascend, Self-raised, and repossess their native seat?
Etymology
From Middle English puissaunt, from Middle French puissant, poissant, Anglo-Norman puissant, Old French pussant, et al., present participle of pooir (“to be able”), ultimately from Latin posse (“be able”).
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.