righteousness
/ˈɹaɪt͡ʃəsnəs/
"righteousness" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“righteousness” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,493 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,493
- frequency rank, English
- 13
- letters
- 18
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The quality or state of being righteous.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | righteousness |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹaɪt͡ʃəsnəs/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #15,493 |
| Misspellings tracked | 18 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “righteousness” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for righteousness is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹaɪt͡ʃəsnəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,493 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for righteousness, with forms such as "irghteousness", "rgihteousness", and "rigghteousness". 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. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier rightwiseness, from Middle English rightwisnes, from Old English rihtwīsnes (“justice”), equivalent to righteous + -ness. The correct English form is righteousness, spelled R-I-G-H-T-E-O-U-S-N-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1The quality or state of being righteous.
- 2Holiness; conformity of life to the divine law.
- 3A righteous act or quality.
- 4The behaviour of someone who is righteous.
- 5The state of being right with God; justification; the work of Christ, which is the ground justification.
Etymology
From earlier rightwiseness, from Middle English rightwisnes, from Old English rihtwīsnes (“justice”), equivalent to righteous + -ness.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: irghteousness,rgihteousness,rigghteousness,righetousness,righhteousness,righteosuness,righteounsess,righteousenss,righteousnes,righteousnness,righteousnses,righteoussness,righteuosness,rightoeusness,rightteousness,rigtheousness,rihgteousness,rrighteousness
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of righteousness - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “righteousness”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-I-G-H-T-E-O-U-S-N-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹaɪt͡ʃəsnəs/ (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
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.