at arm's length
"at-arm-s-length" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“at arm's length” 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
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - At a distance, away from one's body.
Corpus desk
Index EN-at-arm-s-length · at arm's length · English
at arm's length · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 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 arm's length |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “at arm's length” in English
Rare enough to double-check
at arm's length 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.
No misspelling variants are generated for at arm's length in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is at arm's length, spelled A-T- -A-R-M-'-S- -L-E-N-G-T-H.
Definition
- 1At a distance, away from one's body.
- 2Avoiding a close relationship.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how at arm's length appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Iceland were defiant, as they always are, rigid in defence and lacking in attacking ambition, willing to simply keep England at arm's length and maybe land a counter-punch.
She's been keeping me at arm's length all the time. She doesn't want to get involved.
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.