resourcefulness

noun

"resourcefulness" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“resourcefulness” is uncommon English (frequency #50,194 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,194
frequency rank, English
21,470
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The ability to cope with difficult situations, or unusual problems.

Key facts for resourcefulness
PropertyValue
Headwordresourcefulness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Frequency rank#50,194
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “resourcefulness” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

resourcefulness is uncommon English at frequency #50,194 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The ability to cope with difficult situations, or unusual problems.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for resourcefulness, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From resourceful + -ness. The correct English form is resourcefulness, spelled R-E-S-O-U-R-C-E-F-U-L-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The ability to cope with difficult situations, or unusual problems.

Etymology

From resourceful + -ness.

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

How do you spell "resourcefulness"?
"resourcefulness" is spelled R-E-S-O-U-R-C-E-F-U-L-N-E-S-S.
What does "resourcefulness" mean?
As a noun, "resourcefulness" means: The ability to cope with difficult situations, or unusual problems.
What is the origin of the word "resourcefulness"?
From resourceful + -ness. 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.

Using “resourcefulness”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is R-E-S-O-U-R-C-E-F-U-L-N-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list