fingers crossed
[fɪŋɡɚz kʰɹɔst]
"fingers-crossed" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fingers crossed” 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
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - hopefully
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fingers crossed |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [fɪŋɡɚz kʰɹɔst] |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fingers crossed” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fingers crossed is 15 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [fɪŋɡɚz kʰɹɔst]. 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: "hopefully".
Zero misspellings are on record for fingers crossed in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: See cross one's fingers The correct English form is fingers crossed, spelled F-I-N-G-E-R-S- -C-R-O-S-S-E-D.
Definition
- 1hopefully
Etymology
See cross one's fingers
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 “fingers crossed”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-I-N-G-E-R-S- -C-R-O-S-S-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [fɪŋɡɚz kʰɹɔst] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.