butt out

verb

"butt-out" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To stop interfering; mind one's own business.

Corpus desk

Index EN-butt-out · butt out · English

butt out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 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.

Key facts for butt out
PropertyValue
Headwordbutt out
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “butt out” in English

butt outsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

butt out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To stop interfering; mind one's own business.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for butt out, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Modelled after butt in. The correct English form is butt out, spelled B-U-T-T- -O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To stop interfering; mind one's own business.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The government should butt out of people's private lives.

Etymology

Modelled after butt in.

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 "butt out"?
"butt out" is spelled B-U-T-T- -O-U-T.
What does "butt out" mean?
As a verb, "butt out" means: To stop interfering; mind one's own business.
What is the origin of the word "butt out"?
Modelled after butt in. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list