symbolist

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"symbolist" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“symbolist” is uncommon English (frequency #81,886 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,886
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to the Symbolist movement in late 19th-century and early 20th-century European arts and literature

Corpus desk

Index EN-symbolist · symbolist · English

symbolist · rank #81,886 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,886
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH swilling

Nearest frequency peer: swilling (-2 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 “symbolist”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “symbolist” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for symbolist
PropertyValue
Headwordsymbolist
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Frequency rank#81,886
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “symbolist” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).symbolistfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “swilling” (#81,884), “Tarquin” (#81,889), “taverna” (#81,890). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “symbolist” is #81,886. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

symbolist is uncommon English at frequency #81,886 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of or pertaining to the Symbolist movement in late 19th-century and early 20th-century European arts and literature".

symbolist doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French symboliste, coined by French poet Paul Verlaine in 1885. The correct English form is symbolist, spelled S-Y-M-B-O-L-I-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to the Symbolist movement in late 19th-century and early 20th-century European arts and literature

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how symbolist appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The general picture that has emerged is one of Cubism bubbling up out of a thick Parisian stew of symbolist poetry, Cézanne, cafe society, African masks, absinthe and a fascination with all things mechanical and modern, mostly airplanes and automatons.

Etymology

From French symboliste, coined by French poet Paul Verlaine in 1885.

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 "symbolist"?
"symbolist" is spelled S-Y-M-B-O-L-I-S-T.
What does "symbolist" mean?
As an adjective, "symbolist" means: Of or pertaining to the Symbolist movement in late 19th-century and early 20th-century European arts and literature
What is the origin of the word "symbolist"?
From French symboliste, coined by French poet Paul Verlaine in 1885. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "symbolist", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tensioned#81,893stoically#81,860Stackpole#81,853spymaster#81,850

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list