by turns
"by-turns" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by turns” 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
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One after the other; successively; alternating.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-turns · by turns · English
by turns · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 turns |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by turns” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by turns is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for by turns in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is by turns, spelled B-Y- -T-U-R-N-S.
Definition
- 1One after the other; successively; alternating.
- 2At intervals; from time to time.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how by turns appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I am by turns angry and amused. I am the butchest of the three roommates; obviously she thought I was the most likely to get over my “bisexual phase.”
[They] feel by turns the bitter change.
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.