substantial
/səbˈstænʃəl/adjective, noun
substantial is spelled S-U-B-S-T-A-N-T-I-A-L. The wrong spelling people search most is substatial: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 164 of all searches for the word. Substantial is an adjective meaning “Having a substance; actually existing”.
How many letters and syllables are in substantial?
| Letters | 11: S-U-B-S-T-A-N-T-I-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,076th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, substatial, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell substantial?
Substantial is spelled S-U-B-S-T-A-N-T-I-A-L. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 165 of the searches for substantial in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is substantial?
Substantial appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th 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 substantial?
- /səbˈstænʃəl/
Substantial has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-substantial.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-substantial.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of substantial
- more substantial comparative
- most substantial superlative
- substantials plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does substantial mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having a substance; actually existing.
substantial life
- 2
Not imaginary; real; actual; true; veritable.
1850s, Cardinal John Henry Newman, The Rise and Progress of Universities to do some substantial good, is the compensation for much incidental imperfection
- 3
Corporeal; material; firm.
- 4
Having good substance; strong; stout; solid; firm.
substantial cloth
- 5
Addressing the substance of an injury
Substantial damages (i.e. damages set at a level that exactly covers the plaintiff's losses; synonym: compensatory damgages)
- 6
Possessed of goods or an estate; moderately wealthy.
a substantial freeholder
- 7
Large in size, quantity, or value; ample; significant.
He inherited a substantial amount of money from his uncle.
- 8
Most important; essential.
noun
- 1
Anything having substance; an essential part.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Substantial in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | substantiel |
| Portuguese | substancial , substancioso |
| Spanish | sustancial, substancial , enjundioso , cuantioso |
| German | wesentlich , essenziell, substanziell |
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 substantial come from?
From Middle English substancial, substantiall, from Old French substanciel, substantiel and its etymon Latin substantiālis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).