verisimilitude
/vɛɹɪsɪˈmɪlɪtjuːd/
"verisimilitude" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“verisimilitude” is an uncommon English word, ranked #77,321 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #77,321
- frequency rank, English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The property of seeming true, of resembling reality; resemblance to reality.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | verisimilitude |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /vɛɹɪsɪˈmɪlɪtjuːd/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Frequency rank | #77,321 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “verisimilitude” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for verisimilitude is 14 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /vɛɹɪsɪˈmɪlɪtjuːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #77,321 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for verisimilitude, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French vérisimilitude, from Latin vērīsimilitūdō (“likeness to truth”), more correctly written separately as vērī similitūdō; from vērī, genitive singular of vērus (“true, real”), + similitūdō (“likeness, resemblance”). The correct English form is verisimilitude, spelled V-E-R-I-S-I-M-I-L-I-T-U-D-E.
Definition
- 1The property of seeming true, of resembling reality; resemblance to reality.
- 2A statement which merely appears to be true.
- 3Faithfulness to its own rules; internal cohesion.
Etymology
From Middle French vérisimilitude, from Latin vērīsimilitūdō (“likeness to truth”), more correctly written separately as vērī similitūdō; from vērī, genitive singular of vērus (“true, real”), + similitūdō (“likeness, resemblance”).
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
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Using “verisimilitude”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-R-I-S-I-M-I-L-I-T-U-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /vɛɹɪsɪˈmɪlɪtjuːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.