a little
"a-little" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“a little” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To a small extent or degree.
Corpus desk
Index EN-a-little · a little · English
a little · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | a little |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “a little” in English
Rare enough to double-check
a little is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for a little in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is a little, spelled A- -L-I-T-T-L-E.
Definition
- 1To a small extent or degree.
- 2Slightly.
- 3Very.
- 4A lot.
- 5A lot of.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how a little appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The door was opened a little.
Helping not a little was a squad of volunteers.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.