egg on
"egg-on" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“egg on” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To encourage or coax (a person) to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | egg on |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “egg on” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for egg on is 6 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To encourage or coax (a person) to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for egg on, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: * From Middle English eggen (“to incite; urge on; instigate”), from Old Norse eggja (“to incite”), from egg (“edge”). More at edge. * A variant of the archaic "edge on." The correct English form is egg on, spelled E-G-G- -O-N.
Definition
- 1To encourage or coax (a person) to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless.
Etymology
* From Middle English eggen (“to incite; urge on; instigate”), from Old Norse eggja (“to incite”), from egg (“edge”). More at edge. * A variant of the archaic "edge on."
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “egg on”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-G-G- -O-N - 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.