truism

/tɹuːizəm/

//tɹuːizəm// noun

"truism" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“truism” is uncommon English (frequency #59,087 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,087
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A self-evident or obvious truth.

Corpus desk

Index EN-truism · truism · English

truism · rank #59,087 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,087
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH trespasser

Nearest frequency peer: trespasser (-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 “truism”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for truism
PropertyValue
Headwordtruism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɹuːizəm/
Letters6
Frequency rank#59,087
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “truism” 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).truismfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “trespasser” (#59,086), “Tremblay” (#59,085), “transportable” (#59,083). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “truism” is #59,087. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

truism is uncommon English at frequency #59,087 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /tɹuːizəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for truism in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From true + -ism. The correct English form is truism, spelled T-R-U-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A self-evident or obvious truth.
  2. 2
    A banality or cliché.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. It is a truism that the site of stations is conditioned by history and geography, but Dover Marine especially owes its fascinating and unusual layout to these two factors.
  2. It is a truism that the people who attend a rally for President Trump more than two years before he’s on the ballot again are generally strong supporters of President Trump.

Etymology

From true + -ism.

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 "truism"?
"truism" is spelled T-R-U-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹuːizəm/.
What does "truism" mean?
As a noun, "truism" means: A self-evident or obvious truth.
How do you pronounce "truism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "truism" is /tɹuːizəm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "truism"?
From true + -ism. 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 "truism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list