at daggers drawn
/æt ˌdæɡəz ˈdɹɔːn/
"at-daggers-drawn" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“at daggers drawn” 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
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a state of open hostility.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | at daggers drawn |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| IPA | /æt ˌdæɡəz ˈdɹɔːn/ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “at daggers drawn” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
at daggers drawn is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase, transcribed /æt ˌdæɡəz ˈdɹɔːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a state of open hostility.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for at daggers drawn in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably a reference to people preparing to fight by drawing their daggers from their sheaths. Compare French à couteaux tirés (literally “at daggers drawn”). The correct English form is at daggers drawn, spelled A-T- -D-A-G-G-E-R-S- -D-R-A-W-N.
Definition
- 1In a state of open hostility.
Etymology
Probably a reference to people preparing to fight by drawing their daggers from their sheaths. Compare French à couteaux tirés (literally “at daggers drawn”).
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
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Using “at daggers drawn”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-T- -D-A-G-G-E-R-S- -D-R-A-W-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /æt ˌdæɡəz ˈdɹɔːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.