far and wide
"far-and-wide" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“far and wide” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adverb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Over a great distance or large area; nearly everywhere.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | far and wide |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “far and wide” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for far and wide is 12 letters long, classified as an adverb. 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: "Over a great distance or large area; nearly everywhere.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for far and wide, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fer and wide (“far and wide”). Compare Middle English wide and side, widen and siden (“far and wide”), from Old English wīde and sīde (“far and wide”). The correct English form is far and wide, spelled F-A-R- -A-N-D- -W-I-D-E.
Definition
- 1Over a great distance or large area; nearly everywhere.
Etymology
From Middle English fer and wide (“far and wide”). Compare Middle English wide and side, widen and siden (“far and wide”), from Old English wīde and sīde (“far and wide”).
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 “far and wide”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-A-R- -A-N-D- -W-I-D-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.