by no means
/baɪ nəʊ ˈmiːnz/
"by-no-means" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by no means” 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
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Certainly not; definitely not; not at all.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-no-means · by no means · English
by no means · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 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 no means |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| IPA | /baɪ nəʊ ˈmiːnz/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by no means” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by no means is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase, transcribed /baɪ nəʊ ˈmiːnz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Certainly not; definitely not; not at all.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for by no means, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From by + no + means (“condition or instrument to achieve a result”). The correct English form is by no means, spelled B-Y- -N-O- -M-E-A-N-S.
Definition
- 1Certainly not; definitely not; not at all.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how by no means appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
By no means am I suggesting that euthanasia should be outlawed, but rather that we should look at its inherent risks.
Is that all you’ve got to say? ―By no means. Let me explain further.
Etymology
From by + no + means (“condition or instrument to achieve a result”).
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.