deadline
/ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/
"deadline" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“deadline” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,871. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,871
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed.
Corpus desk
Index EN-deadline · deadline · English
deadline · rank #5,871 · 11 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,871
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH curriculum
Nearest frequency peer: curriculum (-1 rank slots)
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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “deadline”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- cookies
cookies
94,133 corpus weight
- cruel
cruel
94,132 corpus weight
- curriculum
curriculum
94,131 corpus weight
- deadline
deadline
94,130 corpus weight
- deer
deer
94,129 corpus weight
- delta
delta
94,128 corpus weight
What this shows “deadline” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | deadline |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #5,871 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “deadline”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around deadline (IPA /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,871 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for deadline, with forms such as "daedline", "ddeadline", and "deaddline". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "dealing", "decline", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, early usage refers to lines that do not move, such as one used in angling. Slightly later American usage refers to a boundary in a prison which prisoners must not cross. There is only indirect evidence that the se… The correct English form is deadline, spelled D-E-A-D-L-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1A time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed.
- 2A guideline marked on a plate for a printing press.
- 3A line that does not move.
- 4A boundary around a prison, prisoners crossing which would be shot.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how deadline appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I must make this deadline or my boss will kill me!
TfW's [Transport for Wales] plans to meet the PRM [Persons with Reduced Mobility] deadline and withdraw all Pacers by 1 January have been made more difficult by delays to introduction of Class 769 and 230 units.
Etymology
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, early usage refers to lines that do not move, such as one used in angling. Slightly later American usage refers to a boundary in a prison which prisoners must not cross. There is only indirect evidence that the sense of "due date" may be connected with this use of the term in prison camps during the American Civil War, when it referred to a physical line or boundary beyond which prisoners were shot. In 1904, in a report from the US Department of Commerce and Labor, the term is used for "minimum work goals" (and in contrast to bonus line): for example, as a typographer the line could be 18,000 ems per day; should one not cross this line, then that could have negative consequences. In 1917, the term is attested as a printing term for a guideline on the bed of a printing press beyond which text will not print. Three years later, the term is found in print in the sense of "time limit" in the closely connected publishing industry, indicating the time after which material would not make it into a newspaper or periodical.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- daedline
- ddeadline
- deaddline
- deadilne
- deadlien
- deadlinne
- deadlline
- deadlnie
- dealdine
- dedaline
- edadline
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of deadline - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "deadline", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).