downrange

adj

"downrange" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“downrange” is an uncommon English word, ranked #90,380 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#90,380
frequency rank, English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In the horizontal direction away from the launch site of a rocket or projectile in the direction of its travel.

Key facts for downrange
PropertyValue
Headworddownrange
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Frequency rank#90,380
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “downrange” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). downrange lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for downrange is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #90,380 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "In the horizontal direction away from the launch site of a rocket or projectile in the direction of its travel.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for downrange, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From down + range. The correct English form is downrange, spelled D-O-W-N-R-A-N-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    In the horizontal direction away from the launch site of a rocket or projectile in the direction of its travel.

Etymology

From down + range.

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

How do you spell "downrange"?
"downrange" is spelled D-O-W-N-R-A-N-G-E.
What does "downrange" mean?
As an adjective, "downrange" means: In the horizontal direction away from the launch site of a rocket or projectile in the direction of its travel.
What is the origin of the word "downrange"?
From down + range. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “downrange”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-O-W-N-R-A-N-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list