at a loss
"at-a-loss" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“at a loss” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Below the cost or price of purchase.
Corpus desk
Index EN-at-a-loss · at a loss · English
at a loss · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 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 | at a loss |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “at a loss” in English
Rare enough to double-check
at a loss is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for at a loss in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is at a loss, spelled A-T- -A- -L-O-S-S.
Definition
- 1Below the cost or price of purchase.
- 2Not sure; uncertain; lacking further ideas, direction, or ability.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how at a loss appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We sold those old computers at a loss.
I have fixed the parts I understand, and the rest leaves me at a loss.
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.