at fault
"at-fault" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“at fault” 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
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Guilty, responsible, to blame.
Corpus desk
Index EN-at-fault · at fault · English
at fault · 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | at fault |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “at fault” in English
Rare enough to double-check
at fault 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 fault in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is at fault, spelled A-T- -F-A-U-L-T.
Definition
- 1Guilty, responsible, to blame.
- 2Of hunting dogs: unable to find the scent.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how at fault appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Goalkeeper Mary Earps, wearing the armband in Bright's absence, was at fault for Beerensteyn's second goal as she allowed the ball to squeeze between her hands at the near post, after the Dutch striker had got the better of Carter and Lucy Bronze for her opener.
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.