I'll be blowed
/ˌaɪl biː ˈbləʊd/
"i-ll-be-blowed" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“I'll be blowed” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Used to express amazement and surprise.
Corpus desk
Index EN-i-ll-be-blowed · I'll be blowed · English
I'll be blowed · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "I" 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 | I'll be blowed |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /ˌaɪl biː ˈbləʊd/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “I'll be blowed” in English
Rare enough to double-check
I'll be blowed is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed /ˌaɪl biː ˈbləʊd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Used to express amazement and surprise.".
No misspelling variants are generated for I'll be blowed in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably a hyperbole expressing that the speaker is so surprised it is as if they have been blown over by a gust of wind: compare blow me down and blow me over, and also knock someone over with a feather, which have the same sense. Used as a euphemism for I… The correct English form is I'll be blowed, spelled I-'-L-L- -B-E- -B-L-O-W-E-D.
Definition
- 1Used to express amazement and surprise.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how I'll be blowed appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Well, I’ll be blowed if it isn’t my old school friend, John!
‘[…] Luke at that there homnibus; why, darn me—’ and now, in his eloquence at this peculiar point, my friend became more loud and powerful than ever—‘why, darn me, if maister harns enough with that there buss to put hiron on them osses feet, I’ll—be—blowed!’
Etymology
Probably a hyperbole expressing that the speaker is so surprised it is as if they have been blown over by a gust of wind: compare blow me down and blow me over, and also knock someone over with a feather, which have the same sense. Used as a euphemism for I'll be damned; compare also blasted.
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.