big girl's blouse

noun

"big-girl-s-blouse" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“big girl's blouse” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An effeminate or weak man, a sissy.

Key facts for big girl's blouse
PropertyValue
Headwordbig girl's blouse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “big girl's blouse” sits in English frequency

big girl's blouse falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for big girl's blouse is 17 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An effeminate or weak man, a sissy.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for big girl's blouse, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: First recorded (1969) in the television sitcom Nearest and Dearest, used by the character Nellie Pledge (played by comedienne Hylda Baker). It has been suggested that Baker had previously used this expression in her stage act. The correct English form is big girl's blouse, spelled B-I-G- -G-I-R-L-'-S- -B-L-O-U-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An effeminate or weak man, a sissy.

Etymology

First recorded (1969) in the television sitcom Nearest and Dearest, used by the character Nellie Pledge (played by comedienne Hylda Baker). It has been suggested that Baker had previously used this expression in her stage act.

Synonyms

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 "big girl's blouse"?
"big girl's blouse" is spelled B-I-G- -G-I-R-L-'-S- -B-L-O-U-S-E.
What does "big girl's blouse" mean?
As a noun, "big girl's blouse" means: An effeminate or weak man, a sissy.
What is the origin of the word "big girl's blouse"?
First recorded (1969) in the television sitcom Nearest and Dearest, used by the character Nellie Pledge (played by comedienne Hylda Baker). It has been suggested that Baker had previously used this expression in her stage act. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “big girl's blouse”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-I-G- -G-I-R-L-'-S- -B-L-O-U-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list