Wahhabism

name

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

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

The verdict

“Wahhabism” is uncommon English (frequency #69,572 among 12,113 “W” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,572
frequency rank, English
12,113
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A Sunni Islamic fundamentalist reform movement based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (c. 1703–1792), followed primarily in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Key facts for Wahhabism
PropertyValue
HeadwordWahhabism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters9
Frequency rank#69,572
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Wahhabism” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Wahhabism lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Wahhabism is uncommon English at frequency #69,572 among 12,113 “W” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A Sunni Islamic fundamentalist reform movement based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (c. 1703–1792), followed primarily in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.".

Zero misspellings are on record for Wahhabism in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. 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: Calque of Arabic وَهَّابِيَّة (wahhābiyya). From Wahhab + -ism. Named after Islam theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The correct English form is Wahhabism, spelled W-A-H-H-A-B-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A Sunni Islamic fundamentalist reform movement based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (c. 1703–1792), followed primarily in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Etymology

Calque of Arabic وَهَّابِيَّة (wahhābiyya). From Wahhab + -ism. Named after Islam theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

This word in other languages

wahhabisme(Français)Wahhabismus(Deutsch)

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 "Wahhabism"?
"Wahhabism" is spelled W-A-H-H-A-B-I-S-M.
What does "Wahhabism" mean?
As a proper noun, "Wahhabism" means: A Sunni Islamic fundamentalist reform movement based on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (c. 1703–1792), followed primarily in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
What is the origin of the word "Wahhabism"?
Calque of Arabic وَهَّابِيَّة (wahhābiyya). From Wahhab + -ism. Named after Islam theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. 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.

Using “Wahhabism”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is W-A-H-H-A-B-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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list