religious
/ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒəs/adjective, noun
religious is spelled R-E-L-I-G-I-O-U-S. The wrong spelling people search most is religous: about 390 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 13 of all searches for the word. Religious is an adjective meaning “Concerning religion”.
How many letters and syllables are in religious?
| Letters | 9: R-E-L-I-G-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 71 times per million words; the 1,486th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, religous, about 390 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell religious?
Religious is spelled R-E-L-I-G-I-O-U-S. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 12 of the searches for religious in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is religious?
Religious appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce religious?
- /ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒəs/
- /ɹəˈlɪd͡ʒəs/
- /ɹəˈləd͡ʒəs/
Religious has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-religious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of religious
- more religious comparative
- most religious superlative
- religiouses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does religious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Concerning religion.
It is the job of this court to rule on legal matters. We do not consider religious issues.
- 2
Committed to the practice or adherence of religion.
I was much less religious as a teenager than I am now.
- 3
Highly dedicated, as one would be to a religion.
I'm a religious fan of college basketball.
- 4
Belonging or pertaining to a religious order.
Near-synonym: monastic
noun
- 1
A member of a religious order, congregation, or certain other forms of consecrated life, i.e. a monk, nun, sister, brother, friar, or other religious priest.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate religious?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of religious: relig..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Religious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | religieux , religieuse |
| German | religiös , Ordensmitglied, Ordensleute , gläubig |
| Portuguese | religioso |
| Spanish | religioso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does religious come from?
From Middle English religiouse, religious, religius, religeous, from Anglo-Norman religieus, religius, from Old French religious, religieux, and their source, Latin religiōsus (“religious, superstitious, conscientious”), from religiō. Doublet of religieux.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).