Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

piratical

/paɪˈɹætɪkɘl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.95 in modern English

Syllables: pi-rat-i-cal
IPA: /paɪˈɹætɪkɘl/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of, pertaining to, or similar to pirates.

adj

Of a bird, practising kleptoparasitism.

Example Sentences

"A nursery-maid is never afraid of what you people call work, So I made up my mind to go as a kind of piratical maid-of-all-work;"
"He looks piratical, with his beard and long hair and single pearl earring, or like a jumble-sale 17th century nobleman."

Etymology

From Latin pīrāticus + -al, from Ancient Greek πειρᾱτικός (peirātikós); equivalent to pirate + -ical.

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: πειρᾱτικός
Suffix: pīrāticus, pirate

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /paɪˈɹætɪkɘl/

Inflected Forms

more piratical (comparative) most piratical (superlative) piratic (alternative)

Derived Forms

biopiratical piratically unpiratical

Questions

How do you pronounce piratical?: The recorded pronunciation is /paɪˈɹætɪkɘl/.
What does piratical mean?: Of, pertaining to, or similar to pirates.
Where does piratical come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce piratical

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “piratical”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/paɪˈɹætɪkɘl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “piratical”.
Repeat and practice — Say “piratical” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.