puritanical

/pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl/

//pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl// adj

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

"puritanical" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“puritanical” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #49,572. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,572
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.

Corpus desk

Index EN-puritanical · puritanical · English

puritanical · rank #49,572 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #49,572
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pseudoscience

Nearest frequency peer: pseudoscience (-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 “puritanical”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “puritanical” 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
Key facts for puritanical
PropertyValue
Headwordpuritanical
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl/
Letters11
Frequency rank#49,572
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “puritanical”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).puritanicallands 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 “pseudoscience” (#49,571), “prototypical” (#49,570), “pyrite” (#49,574). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “puritanical” is #49,572. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around puritanical (IPA /pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #49,572 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for puritanical, with forms such as "ppuritanical", "pruitanical", and "puirtanical". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From puritanic + -al. The correct English form is puritanical, spelled P-U-R-I-T-A-N-I-C-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.
  2. 2
    Precise in observance of legal or religious requirements; strict; overscrupulous; rigid (often used by way of reproach or contempt).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The host proposed divers puritanical fancies—nay, once hinted at a head of Cromwell himself; but the hostess overruled all these proposals, and stood firm by the Sun.
  2. Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me. She is a heavy, solid person, very limited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical. You could hardly conceive a less emotional subject. Yet I have told you how, on the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then I have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face. Some deep so…

Etymology

From puritanic + -al.

This word in other languages

puritanisch(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ppuritanical
  • pruitanical
  • puirtanical
  • puriatnical
  • puritaincal
  • puritancial
  • puritaniacl
  • puritanicall
  • puritaniccal
  • puritanicla
  • puritannical
  • puritnaical
  • purittanical
  • purritanical
  • purtianical
  • upritanical

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of puritanical - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ppuritanical1pruitanical2puirtanical2puriatnical2puritaincal2puritancial2puritaniacl2puritanicall1
Edit distance from "puritanical"

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 "puritanical"?
"puritanical" is spelled P-U-R-I-T-A-N-I-C-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl/.
What does "puritanical" mean?
As an adjective, "puritanical" means: Of or pertaining to the Puritans, or to their doctrines and practice.
What are common misspellings of "puritanical"?
Common misspellings include "ppuritanical", "pruitanical", "puirtanical", "puriatnical", "puritaincal". The correct spelling is "puritanical".
How do you pronounce "puritanical"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "puritanical" is /pjʊəɹ.ɪˈtæn.ɪ.kəl/. 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 "puritanical"?
From puritanic + -al. 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 "puritanical", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

portmanteau#49,563rationalist#49,581repudiation#49,589periodicity#49,546

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

platformer16 variantsstealthily16 variantslithograph16 variantsunwillingly16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list