all-encompassing

adj

"all-encompassing" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“all-encompassing” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Including everything; universal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-all-encompassing · all-encompassing · English

all-encompassing · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 16 letters
  • VOW-5 5 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.

Key facts for all-encompassing
PropertyValue
Headwordall-encompassing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “all-encompassing” sits in English frequency

all-encompassingsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

all-encompassing is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Including everything; universal.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for all-encompassing, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From all- + encompassing. The correct English form is all-encompassing, spelled A-L-L---E-N-C-O-M-P-A-S-S-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Including everything; universal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how all-encompassing appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The desire to get back into the womb can become, in a creative way, a making of a womb out of the whole world, including everything in the womb (the city, the enlarged universe of Black Spring, of The Black Book), the all-englobing, all-encompassing womb, holding everything.
  2. This essay, "Identity: Skin Blood Heart," is an account of her struggle to wrench herself free from the all-encompassing racist indoctrination that white people in North America are taught.

Etymology

From all- + encompassing.

Synonyms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "all-encompassing"?
"all-encompassing" is spelled A-L-L---E-N-C-O-M-P-A-S-S-I-N-G.
What does "all-encompassing" mean?
As an adjective, "all-encompassing" means: Including everything; universal.
What is the origin of the word "all-encompassing"?
From all- + encompassing. 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.

What to do next

You've looked up "all-encompassing". Here's where to go from here.

  • Browse more English words in the "A" letter cohort. A–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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