breach of promise

noun

"breach-of-promise" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“breach of promise” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see breach, promise.

Key facts for breach of promise
PropertyValue
Headwordbreach of promise
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “breach of promise” sits in English frequency

breach of promise 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.

Rare enough to double-check

breach of promise is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

breach of promise has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is breach of promise, spelled B-R-E-A-C-H- -O-F- -P-R-O-M-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see breach, promise.
  2. 2
    A tort in common law arising when a man withdraws an earlier promise to marry a woman; abolished in many jurisdictions.

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 "breach of promise"?
"breach of promise" is spelled B-R-E-A-C-H- -O-F- -P-R-O-M-I-S-E.
What does "breach of promise" mean?
As a noun, "breach of promise" means: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see breach, promise.
What language does "breach of promise" come from?
"breach of promise" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “breach of promise”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is B-R-E-A-C-H- -O-F- -P-R-O-M-I-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