go gentle into that good night

verb

"go-gentle-into-that-good-night" is a 25-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“go gentle into that good night” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
30
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To die without protest.

Key facts for go gentle into that good night
PropertyValue
Headwordgo gentle into that good night
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters30
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “go gentle into that good night” sits in English frequency

go gentle into that good night 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 go gentle into that good night is 30 letters long, classified as a verb. 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: "To die without protest.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for go gentle into that good night in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the poem Do not go gentle into that good night (1947) by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The correct English form is go gentle into that good night, spelled G-O- -G-E-N-T-L-E- -I-N-T-O- -T-H-A-T- -G-O-O-D- -N-I-G-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To die without protest.

Etymology

From the poem Do not go gentle into that good night (1947) by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

Synonyms

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 "go gentle into that good night"?
"go gentle into that good night" is spelled G-O- -G-E-N-T-L-E- -I-N-T-O- -T-H-A-T- -G-O-O-D- -N-I-G-H-T.
What does "go gentle into that good night" mean?
As a verb, "go gentle into that good night" means: To die without protest.
What is the origin of the word "go gentle into that good night"?
From the poem Do not go gentle into that good night (1947) by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 “go gentle into that good night”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is G-O- -G-E-N-T-L-E- -I-N-T-O- -T-H-A-T- -G-O-O-D- -N-I-G-H-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