go ballistic
"go-ballistic" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“go ballistic” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To become very angry and irrational.
Corpus desk
Index EN-go-ballistic · go ballistic · English
go ballistic · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" 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 | go ballistic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “go ballistic” in English
Rare enough to double-check
go ballistic is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for go ballistic in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: The idiomatic usage derives from the second-generation of jet fighters, armed with guided missiles, in the late 1950s into the 1960s, with the informal military sense of fully-powered non-ballistic missiles going ballistic when losing control and assuming a… The correct English form is go ballistic, spelled G-O- -B-A-L-L-I-S-T-I-C.
Definition
- 1To become very angry and irrational.
- 2for a usually rocket-powered, predominantly non-glide projectile or aerial vehicle, such as a ballistic missile, to travel to its target partly via unpowered ballistic or quasi-ballistic flight, usually following burnout of its rocket motor
- 3for a powered, usually guided missile or other aerial vehicle to travel on an unguided or ballistic trajectory, having lost power, control or guidance
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how go ballistic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She'd go ballistic, possibly even fling a fireball or two, if she knew Selene had him in her apartment.
Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Hey, sorry for going ballistic back there. I think the whole Julie-being-alive thing affected me more than I thought.
Etymology
The idiomatic usage derives from the second-generation of jet fighters, armed with guided missiles, in the late 1950s into the 1960s, with the informal military sense of fully-powered non-ballistic missiles going ballistic when losing control and assuming a free-fall trajectory, sense 3. But in subsequent usage the term has often become associated with the intentionally ballistic, suborbital trajectories of long-range, typically nuclear-armed missiles, sense 2.
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.