fall flat on one's face
"fall-flat-on-one-s-face" is a 18-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fall flat on one's face” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 23
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To fall headlong forwards, notionally hitting one's face on the ground.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fall-flat-on-one-s-face · fall flat on one's face · English
fall flat on one's face · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 23 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" 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 | fall flat on one's face |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 23 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “fall flat on one's face” in English
Rare enough to double-check
fall flat on one's face is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for fall flat on one's face, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is fall flat on one's face, spelled F-A-L-L- -F-L-A-T- -O-N- -O-N-E-'-S- -F-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1To fall headlong forwards, notionally hitting one's face on the ground.
- 2To fail miserably, especially in an obvious or embarrassing way.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fall flat on one's face appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I tripped over my shoelace and fell flat on my face.
He tried to start his own business but fell flat on his face.
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.