back street
"back-street" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“back street” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A usually small and narrow street or alley, especially one in inferior or poorer parts of a city, away from the centre.
Corpus desk
Index EN-back-street · back street · English
back street · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" 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 | back street |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “back street” in English
Rare enough to double-check
back street is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for back street, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, 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 back street, spelled B-A-C-K- -S-T-R-E-E-T.
Definition
- 1A usually small and narrow street or alley, especially one in inferior or poorer parts of a city, away from the centre.
- 2A secret, clandestine, or illegal scene.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how back street appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
So much to do, so much to see So what's wrong with taking the back streets? You'll never know if you don't go You'll never shine if you don't glow
Near-synonym: mean streets
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.