at any rate

prep_phrase

"at-any-rate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“at any rate” 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
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In any case, anyway, anyhow, regardless; used to discard or qualify a previous thought.

Corpus desk

Index EN-at-any-rate · at any rate · English

at any rate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 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 at any rate
PropertyValue
Headwordat any rate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPrep_phrase
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “at any rate” in English

at any ratefalls 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

at any rate 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.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for at any rate, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is at any rate, spelled A-T- -A-N-Y- -R-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    In any case, anyway, anyhow, regardless; used to discard or qualify a previous thought.
  2. 2
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see at, any, rate.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jim broke the window — or maybe it was John? At any rate, the window’s broken now.
  2. He's stinking rich — or, at any rate, pretty well off.

Synonyms

at all eventsin any event1947 July and Augustinpage 256:At any ratein my experiencethey could run like the windbut longer and heavier trains slowly but surely became too much for them1978Daniel C. DennettBradford Books:What moved from A to B at such speed was surely myselfor at any rate my soulmind2008Graham OppyDavid Dowein :Why couldn't it be the case that there are intelligent things that are unable to carry on a conversationorunable to carry on a conversation with creatures like us?

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 "at any rate"?
"at any rate" is spelled A-T- -A-N-Y- -R-A-T-E.
What does "at any rate" mean?
As a prep_phrase, "at any rate" means: In any case, anyway, anyhow, regardless; used to discard or qualify a previous thought.
What language does "at any rate" come from?
"at any rate" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list