half-mast
"half-mast" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“half-mast” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The lowered position, half the height of a mast, at which a flag is flown when mourning, especially expressing respect for the deceased.
Corpus desk
Index EN-half-mast · half-mast · English
half-mast · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "H" 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 | half-mast |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “half-mast” in English
Rare enough to double-check
half-mast is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
half-mast has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is half-mast, spelled H-A-L-F---M-A-S-T.
Definition
- 1The lowered position, half the height of a mast, at which a flag is flown when mourning, especially expressing respect for the deceased.
- 2The lowered position of anything.
- 3An unfashionably short length of a pair of trousers.
- 4The state of having a partially erect penis.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how half-mast appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Any other UK national flags flown alongside the Union Flag when it is at half-mast should also be at half-mast.
He is to be cremated later Thursday at a ceremony likely to be attended by the country's top leadership. Flags were seen flying at half-mast in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. China's state news agency Xinhua reported that flags would be lowered at government buildings across mainland China, semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and in consulates ab…
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.