first and foremost

adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"first-and-foremost" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“first and foremost” 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
18
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Primarily; most importantly.

Key facts for first and foremost
PropertyValue
Headwordfirst and foremost
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters18
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “first and foremost” sits in English frequency

first and foremost falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for first and foremost is 18 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: "Primarily; most importantly.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for first and foremost, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is first and foremost, spelled F-I-R-S-T- -A-N-D- -F-O-R-E-M-O-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Primarily; most importantly.

Synonyms

above all

This word in other languages

sobretodo(Español)d’abord et avant tout(Français)vor allem(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "first and foremost"?
"first and foremost" is spelled F-I-R-S-T- -A-N-D- -F-O-R-E-M-O-S-T.
What does "first and foremost" mean?
As an adverb, "first and foremost" means: Primarily; most importantly.
What language does "first and foremost" come from?
"first and foremost" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “first and foremost”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-I-R-S-T- -A-N-D- -F-O-R-E-M-O-S-T - 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list