keep away

verb

"keep-away" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“keep away” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. 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) - To refrain from coming (near).

Corpus desk

Index EN-keep-away · keep away · English

keep away · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "K" 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 keep away
PropertyValue
Headwordkeep away
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “keep away” in English

keep awayfalls 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

keep away is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for keep away in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is keep away, spelled K-E-E-P- -A-W-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    To refrain from coming (near).
  2. 2
    To prevent from coming (near).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I'm keeping away from Joe until he calms down.
  2. Keep your children away from the construction site: it's dangerous!

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 "keep away"?
"keep away" is spelled K-E-E-P- -A-W-A-Y.
What does "keep away" mean?
As a verb, "keep away" means: To refrain from coming (near).
What language does "keep away" come from?
"keep away" 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