deadline
/ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/
"deadline" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“deadline” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,871 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,871
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed.
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) |
Where “deadline” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for deadline is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,871 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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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Using “deadline”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-A-D-L-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dealing” - see the side-by-side comparison. deadline vs dealing
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.