Wahhabism

name

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

The verdict

“Wahhabism” is uncommon English (frequency #69,572 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,572
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wahhabism · Wahhabism · English

Wahhabism · rank #69,572 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #69,572
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH waggoner

Nearest frequency peer: waggoner (-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 “Wahhabism”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Wahhabism
PropertyValue
HeadwordWahhabism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters9
Frequency rank#69,572
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Wahhabism” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Wahhabismfalls 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: “waggoner” (#69,571), “Walmsley” (#69,573), “Wario” (#69,574). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “Wahhabism” is #69,572. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Wahhabism is uncommon English at frequency #69,572 among 1,759 “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

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list