arselong

adv

"arselong" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“arselong” 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) - Backwards; on one's arse.

Corpus desk

Index EN-arselong · arselong · English

arselong · 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.

Key facts for arselong
PropertyValue
Headwordarselong
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “arselong” in English

arselongfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

arselong is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Backwards; on one's arse.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for arselong, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration (after headlong) of arseling, from Middle English *arsling, from Old English earsling (“backwards, on the back”), equivalent to arse + -ling. Cognate with Dutch aarzeling, aarzelings, German ärschling, ärschlings. The correct English form is arselong, spelled A-R-S-E-L-O-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Backwards; on one's arse.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Heave they did, all unopposed, and tumbled arselong when the bar came about. Even as they rolled and cursed, the whistling petered; [...]

Etymology

Alteration (after headlong) of arseling, from Middle English *arsling, from Old English earsling (“backwards, on the back”), equivalent to arse + -ling. Cognate with Dutch aarzeling, aarzelings, German ärschling, ärschlings.

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 "arselong"?
"arselong" is spelled A-R-S-E-L-O-N-G.
What does "arselong" mean?
As an adverb, "arselong" means: Backwards; on one's arse.
What is the origin of the word "arselong"?
Alteration (after headlong) of arseling, from Middle English *arsling, from Old English earsling (“backwards, on the back”), equivalent to arse + -ling. Cognate with Dutch aarzeling, aarzelings, German ärschling, ärschlings. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list