at the ready
"at-the-ready" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“at the ready” 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) - Ready; in a state of preparation or waiting; in position or anticipation.
Corpus desk
Index EN-at-the-ready · at the ready · English
at the ready · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | at the ready |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “at the ready” in English
Rare enough to double-check
at the ready is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Ready; in a state of preparation or waiting; in position or anticipation.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for at the ready, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is at the ready, spelled A-T- -T-H-E- -R-E-A-D-Y.
Definition
- 1Ready; in a state of preparation or waiting; in position or anticipation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how at the ready appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The soldiers held their rifles at the ready and listened for the enemy.
The soldiers' rifles were at the ready.
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.