by a long shot
"by-a-long-shot" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by a long shot” 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
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - By a wide margin; indicates a very big difference or disparity.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-a-long-shot · by a long shot · English
by a long shot · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 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 | by a long shot |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by a long shot” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by a long shot is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "By a wide margin; indicates a very big difference or disparity.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for by a long shot, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is by a long shot, spelled B-Y- -A- -L-O-N-G- -S-H-O-T.
Definition
- 1By a wide margin; indicates a very big difference or disparity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how by a long shot appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He couldn't keep up with me, not by a long shot.
He speaks better than he writes, by a long shot.
Synonyms
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.