puritan

/ˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.tən/

//ˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.tən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"puritan" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“puritan” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,678. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,678
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A puritanical person.

Corpus desk

Index EN-puritan · puritan · English

puritan · rank #28,678 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #28,678
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH progesterone

Nearest frequency peer: progesterone (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “puritan”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

puritan vs purity
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for puritan
PropertyValue
Headwordpuritan
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.tən/
Letters7
Frequency rank#28,678
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “puritan”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).puritanlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “progesterone” (#28,677), “quart” (#28,679), “principled” (#28,676). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “puritan” is #28,678. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around puritan (IPA /ˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.tən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,678 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A puritanical person.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for puritan, with forms such as "ppuritan", "pruitan", and "puirtan". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "purity", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: See Puritan. The correct English form is puritan, spelled P-U-R-I-T-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A puritanical person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. These new puritans have turned out to be surprisingly unskilled and inexperienced - very different from my generation who invented wife-swapping, orgies and free love in the late Sixties and early Seventies.

Etymology

See Puritan.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ppuritan
  • pruitan
  • puirtan
  • puriatn
  • puritann
  • puritna
  • purittan
  • purritan
  • purtian
  • upritan

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of puritan - 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.

ppuritan1pruitan2puirtan2puriatn2puritann1puritna2purittan1purritan1
Edit distance from "puritan"

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 "puritan"?
"puritan" is spelled P-U-R-I-T-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.tən/.
What does "puritan" mean?
As a noun, "puritan" means: A puritanical person.
What words are commonly confused with "puritan"?
"puritan" is commonly confused with "purity". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "puritan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "puritan" is /ˈpjʊə.ɹɪ.tən/. 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 "puritan"?
See Puritan. 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 "puritan", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pooping#28,673reissue#28,691Paulson#28,664outflow#28,655

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

schism10 variantsnumeric10 variantssneaker10 variantssparing10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list