headfirst
"headfirst" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“headfirst” is uncommon English (frequency #50,559 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,559
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - With the head in front; headlong.
Corpus desk
Index EN-headfirst · headfirst · English
headfirst · rank #50,559 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,559
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH Headley
Nearest frequency peer: Headley (+1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “headfirst”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Harte
Harte
49,446 corpus weight
- Hashem
Hashem
49,445 corpus weight
- headfirst
headfirst
49,442 corpus weight
- Headley
Headley
49,441 corpus weight
- headquarter
headquarter
49,440 corpus weight
- heists
heists
49,438 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “headfirst” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | headfirst |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #50,559 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “headfirst” in English
Rare enough to double-check
headfirst is uncommon English at frequency #50,559 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
headfirst has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From head + first. The correct English form is headfirst, spelled H-E-A-D-F-I-R-S-T.
Definition
- 1With the head in front; headlong.
- 2Rashly; precipitately; without deliberation; hastily.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how headfirst appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Sheffield was not going to stop being Sheffield just because he had dived headfirst into the lusts of the flesh.
Over the past two years, Silicon Valley’s leaders and investors — many of whom had once forsworn involvement in weapons and war — have plunged headfirst into the military industrial complex.
Etymology
From head + first.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "headfirst", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).