self-important
"self-important" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“self-important” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having, or behaving as if having, too high an opinion of one's own importance.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | self-important |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “self-important” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for self-important is 14 letters long, classified as an adjective. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Having, or behaving as if having, too high an opinion of one's own importance.".
No misspelling variants are generated for self-important in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From self- + important. The correct English form is self-important, spelled S-E-L-F---I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-T.
Definition
- 1Having, or behaving as if having, too high an opinion of one's own importance.
Etymology
From self- + important.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “self-important”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-L-F---I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.