utilitarianism
"utilitarianism" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“utilitarianism” is uncommon English (frequency #52,703 among 23,789 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #52,703
- frequency rank, English
- 23,789
- “U” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A system of ethics based on the premise that something's value may be measured by its usefulness.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | utilitarianism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 14 |
| Frequency rank | #52,703 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “utilitarianism” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
utilitarianism is uncommon English at frequency #52,703 among 23,789 “U” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for utilitarianism, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From utilitarian + -ism. The correct English form is utilitarianism, spelled U-T-I-L-I-T-A-R-I-A-N-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1A system of ethics based on the premise that something's value may be measured by its usefulness.
- 2The theory that action should be directed toward achieving the "greatest happiness for the greatest number of people" (hedonistic universalism), or one of various related theories.
- 3Practicality, functionality, as opposed to e.g. aesthetics.
Etymology
From utilitarian + -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 "utilitarianism"?
What does "utilitarianism" mean?
What is the origin of the word "utilitarianism"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “utilitarianism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is U-T-I-L-I-T-A-R-I-A-N-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.