down and out
"down-and-out" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“down and out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a condition of poverty or debility, especially as a result of experiencing a financial or personal setback.
Corpus desk
Index EN-down-and-out · down and out · English
down and out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" 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 | down and out |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “down and out” in English
Rare enough to double-check
down and out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a condition of poverty or debility, especially as a result of experiencing a financial or personal setback.".
down and out doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is down and out, spelled D-O-W-N- -A-N-D- -O-U-T.
Definition
- 1In a condition of poverty or debility, especially as a result of experiencing a financial or personal setback.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how down and out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
People who are down and out need some place to turn.
So if I ever get my hand on a dollar again, I'm gonna hold on to it 'til them eagles grin Nobody knows you, when you down and out In my pocket not one penny, and my friends I haven't any
Synonyms
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.