sophistication
so·phis·ti·ca·tion/səˌfɪs.tɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/noun
sophistication is spelled S-O-P-H-I-S-T-I-C-A-T-I-O-N: 14 letters and 5 syllables (so·phis·ti·ca·tion). It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sophistication means “Enlightenment or education” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sophistication is sophistications.
How many letters and syllables are in sophistication?
| Letters | 14: S-O-P-H-I-S-T-I-C-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: so·phis·ti·ca·tion |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sophistication?
Sophistication appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th 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 sophistication?
- /səˌfɪs.tɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
Sophistication has 5 syllables, split so·phis·ti·ca·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sophistication.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sophistication
- sophistications plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sophistication mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Enlightenment or education.
- 2
Cultivated intellectual worldliness; savoir-faire.
- 3
Deceptive logic; sophistry.
- 4
Falsification, contamination.
- 5
Complexity.
The police force were unable to deal with the sophistication of the criminal network.
- 6
Ability to deal with complexity.
- 7
archaicThe act of sophisticating; adulteration.
the sophistication of drugs
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sophistication in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sophistication |
| German | Erfahrenheit, Beschlagenheit, Ausgereiftheit , Kultiviertheit, Raffinesse |
| Portuguese | sofisticação |
| Spanish | sofisticación , sofistiquez |
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 sophistication come from?
From Middle English sophisticacion, sophisticacioun, sophisticacoun, from Old French sofisticacion, sophisticacion, from Medieval Latin sophisticātiōnis. By surface analysis, sophisticate + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).