go without saying

verb

"go-without-saying" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“go without saying” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To not need to be said or mentioned; to be obvious, apparent, clear, or already established.

Corpus desk

Index EN-go-without-saying · go without saying · English

go without saying · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-7 7 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.

Key facts for go without saying
PropertyValue
Headwordgo without saying
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “go without saying” in English

go without sayingranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

go without saying is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To not need to be said or mentioned; to be obvious, apparent, clear, or already established.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for go without saying in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of French aller sans dire. The correct English form is go without saying, spelled G-O- -W-I-T-H-O-U-T- -S-A-Y-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    To not need to be said or mentioned; to be obvious, apparent, clear, or already established.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how go without saying appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It goes without saying that our volunteers love their work.
  2. It almost goes without saying that the train is fully soundproofed, with double-glazed windows and highly efficient air-conditioning by the British firm of J. Stone.

Etymology

Calque of French aller sans dire.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "go without saying"?
"go without saying" is spelled G-O- -W-I-T-H-O-U-T- -S-A-Y-I-N-G.
What does "go without saying" mean?
As a verb, "go without saying" means: To not need to be said or mentioned; to be obvious, apparent, clear, or already established.
What is the origin of the word "go without saying"?
Calque of French aller sans dire. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list