footloose
"footloose" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“footloose” is uncommon English (frequency #52,322 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #52,322
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tending to travel or do as one pleases; readily without many commitments or responsibility.
Corpus desk
Index EN-footloose · footloose · English
footloose · rank #52,322 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #52,322
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH foreclose
Nearest frequency peer: foreclose (+2 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “footloose”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Finkelstein
Finkelstein
47,685 corpus weight
- footloose
footloose
47,679 corpus weight
- foreclose
foreclose
47,677 corpus weight
- forecourt
forecourt
47,676 corpus weight
- forewarned
forewarned
47,675 corpus weight
- forger
forger
47,674 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “footloose” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | footloose |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #52,322 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “footloose” in English
Rare enough to double-check
footloose is uncommon English at frequency #52,322 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for footloose in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. 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 foot + loose. The correct English form is footloose, spelled F-O-O-T-L-O-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1Tending to travel or do as one pleases; readily without many commitments or responsibility.
- 2Of a sail: not properly secured at the bottom.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how footloose appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He was footloose in his youth.
Because we often imagine that immigrants are constantly on the move, footloose, able to change course at any moment.
Etymology
From foot + loose.
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "footloose"?
What does "footloose" mean?
What is the origin of the word "footloose"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "footloose", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).