head over heels
/ˌhɛd oʊ.vɚ ˈhilz/
"head-over-heels" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“head over heels” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tumbling upside down; somersaulting.
Corpus desk
Index EN-head-over-heels · head over heels · English
head over heels · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-6 6 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 | head over heels |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˌhɛd oʊ.vɚ ˈhilz/ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “head over heels” in English
Rare enough to double-check
head over heels is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed /ˌhɛd oʊ.vɚ ˈhilz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
head over heels doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested from the 14ᵗʰ century onwards, originally as heels over head, which better rendered the notion of things being upside down (head over heels is the standard state of being). The correct English form is head over heels, spelled H-E-A-D- -O-V-E-R- -H-E-E-L-S.
Definition
- 1Tumbling upside down; somersaulting.
- 2At top speed; frantically.
- 3Hopelessly; madly; to distraction; deeply; utterly.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how head over heels appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She tripped and rolled head over heels down the hill.
I was knocked head over heels about 20' from where I was before.
Etymology
Attested from the 14ᵗʰ century onwards, originally as heels over head, which better rendered the notion of things being upside down (head over heels is the standard state of being).
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.