egg on
"egg-on" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“egg on” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To encourage or coax (a person) to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless.
Corpus desk
Index EN-egg-on · egg on · English
egg on · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "E" 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 | egg on |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “egg on” in English
Rare enough to double-check
egg on is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how egg on appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The Neatreſſe longing for the reſt, did egge him on to tell / How faire ſhe vvas, and vvho ſhe vvas.
The affair made a great sensation, and the Darleyfords and their connections said bitter things of Mrs. Dallington, and talked much of rash youth and subtle woman of discreeter years, and passions shamefully inflamed, and purposes wickedly egged on.
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.