hit list

noun

"hit-list" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hit list” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A roster of potential victims, especially a list of people to be killed.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hit-list · hit list · English

hit list · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 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.

Key facts for hit list
PropertyValue
Headwordhit list
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hit list” in English

hit listsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

hit list is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for hit list in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is hit list, spelled H-I-T- -L-I-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A roster of potential victims, especially a list of people to be killed.
  2. 2
    A similar list of people to be approached for a charitable donation.
  3. 3
    Any list of things to be acquired or conquered.
  4. 4
    Synonym of hotlist.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how hit list appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. After all this time, the little girl who watched her father get beheaded, who was captured and impressed as her enemy’s servant, who was captured again and taken to the site of her family’s massacre, who enrolled at assassin school, who went blind, who dropped out to pursue vengeance, the woman who endured all that by focusing on her hit list can be swaye…
  2. London's Marylebone station was also on the Minister of Transport's hit-list for closure, with High Wycombe/Aylesbury services diverted to Paddington and closure of the Northolt-Neasden link via Wembley Park. (Both Marylebone and the lines to it are still open in 2020)

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 "hit list"?
"hit list" is spelled H-I-T- -L-I-S-T.
What does "hit list" mean?
As a noun, "hit list" means: A roster of potential victims, especially a list of people to be killed.
What language does "hit list" come from?
"hit list" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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