in a hurry

prep_phrase

"in-a-hurry" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rushed, hurried; short of time.

Corpus desk

Index EN-in-a-hurry · in a hurry · English

in a hurry · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 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.

Key facts for in a hurry
PropertyValue
Headwordin a hurry
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPrep_phrase
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “in a hurry” in English

in a hurryfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

in a hurry is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for in a hurry, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is in a hurry, spelled I-N- -A- -H-U-R-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rushed, hurried; short of time.
  2. 2
    In a hurried manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I can’t stop now. I'm in rather a hurry.
  2. To worry, worry, super-scurry / Call out the troops now in a hurry

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "in a hurry"?
"in a hurry" is spelled I-N- -A- -H-U-R-R-Y.
What does "in a hurry" mean?
As a prep_phrase, "in a hurry" means: Rushed, hurried; short of time.
What language does "in a hurry" come from?
"in a hurry" 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