steadfastness
"steadfastness" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“steadfastness” is uncommon English (frequency #70,293 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #70,293
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Loyalty in the face of trouble and difficulty.
Corpus desk
Index EN-steadfastness · steadfastness · English
steadfastness · rank #70,293 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #70,293
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH steadiness
Nearest frequency peer: steadiness (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “steadfastness”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- sportswriter
sportswriter
29,714 corpus weight
- steadfastne…
steadfastness
29,708 corpus weight
- steadiness
steadiness
29,707 corpus weight
- stepwise
stepwise
29,706 corpus weight
- Stonehaven
Stonehaven
29,705 corpus weight
- stroma
stroma
29,701 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “steadfastness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | steadfastness |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #70,293 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “steadfastness” in English
Rare enough to double-check
steadfastness is uncommon English at frequency #70,293 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for steadfastness, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English stedfastnesse, stedefastnesse, from Old English stedefæstnes (“steadfastness”), equivalent to steadfast + -ness. The correct English form is steadfastness, spelled S-T-E-A-D-F-A-S-T-N-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1Loyalty in the face of trouble and difficulty.
- 2A steadfast resolution.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how steadfastness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[H]e [Paul] laboureth to comfort Timothy vvith the remembrance of the ſtedfaſtneſs of Gods eternal decree of Election, becauſe grounded on his foreknowledge; […]
Etymology
From Middle English stedfastnesse, stedefastnesse, from Old English stedefæstnes (“steadfastness”), equivalent to steadfast + -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 "steadfastness"?
What does "steadfastness" mean?
What is the origin of the word "steadfastness"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "steadfastness", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).