at long last

prep_phrase

"at-long-last" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“at long last” 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
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - At last.

Corpus desk

Index EN-at-long-last · at long last · English

at long last · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 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.

Key facts for at long last
PropertyValue
Headwordat long last
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPrep_phrase
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “at long last” in English

at long lastranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

at long last is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "At last.".

No misspelling variants are generated for at long last in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is at long last, spelled A-T- -L-O-N-G- -L-A-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    At last.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. At long last, the referee's whistle was mercifully blown. It had been a sobering and underwhelming tournament, but one that must now fuel the future, with a changing of the guard needed ahead of next year's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

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 long last"?
"at long last" is spelled A-T- -L-O-N-G- -L-A-S-T.
What does "at long last" mean?
As a prep_phrase, "at long last" means: At last.
What language does "at long last" come from?
"at long last" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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