holy shit
/ˌhəʊli ˈʃɪt/
"holy-shit" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“holy shit” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. 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) - Expression of terror, awe, surprise, astonishment, etc., often at something seen for the first time or remembered immediately before using this term.
Corpus desk
Index EN-holy-shit · holy shit · English
holy shit · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 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 | holy shit |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /ˌhəʊli ˈʃɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “holy shit” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
holy shit is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed /ˌhəʊli ˈʃɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Expression of terror, awe, surprise, astonishment, etc., often at something seen for the first time or remembered immediately before using this term.".
holy shit has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From holy and shit. The correct English form is holy shit, spelled H-O-L-Y- -S-H-I-T.
Definition
- 1Expression of terror, awe, surprise, astonishment, etc., often at something seen for the first time or remembered immediately before using this term.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how holy shit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Holy shit, that car just exploded!
Etymology
From holy and shit.
Synonyms
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What to do next
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.