pusillanimity
/pjuːsɪləˈnɪmɪti/
"pusillanimity" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pusillanimity” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality or state of being pusillanimous; the vice of being timid and cowardly, and thus not living up to one's full potential; pusillanimousness.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pusillanimity · pusillanimity · English
pusillanimity · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-6 6 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 | pusillanimity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pjuːsɪləˈnɪmɪti/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pusillanimity” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pusillanimity is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pjuːsɪləˈnɪmɪti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The quality or state of being pusillanimous; the vice of being timid and cowardly, and thus not living up to one's full potential; pusillanimousness.".
pusillanimity doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pusillanim(ous) + -ity, from Middle French pusillanimité, from the ecclesiastical Latin pusillanimis, from pusillus (puny) + animus (spirit) + -ous. A translation of the Greek ὀλιγόψυχος (oligópsukhos, “faint-hearted”). The correct English form is pusillanimity, spelled P-U-S-I-L-L-A-N-I-M-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The quality or state of being pusillanimous; the vice of being timid and cowardly, and thus not living up to one's full potential; pusillanimousness.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pusillanimity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The ſecond property of your excellent ſherris, is the vvarming of the blood, vvhich before (cold & ſetled) left the lyuer vvhite & pale, vvhich is the badge of puſilanimitie and covvardize: but the ſherris vvarmes it, and makes it courſe from the invvards to the partes extreames, […]
[…] Puſillanimity; by vvhich that ſeems great to him, vvhich other men think a trifle: and vvhatſoever is nevv, or great, and therefore thought fit to be told, vvithdravves a man by degrees from the intended vvay of his diſcourſe.
Etymology
From pusillanim(ous) + -ity, from Middle French pusillanimité, from the ecclesiastical Latin pusillanimis, from pusillus (puny) + animus (spirit) + -ous. A translation of the Greek ὀλιγόψυχος (oligópsukhos, “faint-hearted”).
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.