by a long way
"by-a-long-way" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by a long way” 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
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To a considerably large extent, easily. Typically used in the negative to indicate something far removed and not easily altered.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-a-long-way · by a long way · English
by a long way · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-5 5 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 way |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by a long way” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by a long way is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To a considerably large extent, easily. Typically used in the negative to indicate something far removed and not easily altered.".
by a long way has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is by a long way, spelled B-Y- -A- -L-O-N-G- -W-A-Y.
Definition
- 1To a considerably large extent, easily. Typically used in the negative to indicate something far removed and not easily altered.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how by a long way appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
“Now this won’t do - not by a long way”.
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.