realpolitik
/ɹeɪˈɑːlpɒlɪˌtiːk/
"realpolitik" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“realpolitik” is uncommon English (frequency #71,044 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,044
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pragmatic, often expansionist, diplomacy and politics focused on perceived national interests of the state to the near exclusion of ethical, moral, and theoretical objectives.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | realpolitik |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹeɪˈɑːlpɒlɪˌtiːk/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #71,044 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “realpolitik” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
realpolitik is uncommon English at frequency #71,044 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹeɪˈɑːlpɒlɪˌtiːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pragmatic, often expansionist, diplomacy and politics focused on perceived national interests of the state to the near exclusion of ethical, moral, and theoretical objectives.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for realpolitik, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Realpolitik (literally “practical, realistic, fact-based, realism-based politics”). The correct English form is realpolitik, spelled R-E-A-L-P-O-L-I-T-I-K.
Definition
- 1Pragmatic, often expansionist, diplomacy and politics focused on perceived national interests of the state to the near exclusion of ethical, moral, and theoretical objectives.
Etymology
Borrowed from German Realpolitik (literally “practical, realistic, fact-based, realism-based politics”).
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); 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
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Using “realpolitik”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-A-L-P-O-L-I-T-I-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹeɪˈɑːlpɒlɪˌtiːk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.