laid-back
"laid-back" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“laid-back” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. 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) - Relaxed and easy-going; demonstrating an absence of stress or worry.
Corpus desk
Index EN-laid-back · laid-back · English
laid-back · 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 "L" 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 | laid-back |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “laid-back” in English
Rare enough to double-check
laid-back is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Relaxed and easy-going; demonstrating an absence of stress or worry.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for laid-back in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From U.S. slang (circa 1950s). Presumably originally a metaphor — literally, "sitting in a tilted-back chair", a relaxed posture. The correct English form is laid-back, spelled L-A-I-D---B-A-C-K.
Definition
- 1Relaxed and easy-going; demonstrating an absence of stress or worry.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how laid-back appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic. In May 1947, a V-2 launched from White Sands Proving Ground headed south instead of north, missing downtown Juarez, Mexico, by 3 miles. The Mexican government's response to the American bombing was admirably laid back. General Enrique Diaz Gonzales and Consul General Raul Michel met with United States…
You have to accept the deliberate unspeed of Italian timetables if you want the right to be liberated by their correspondingly laid-back lifestyle.
Etymology
From U.S. slang (circa 1950s). Presumably originally a metaphor — literally, "sitting in a tilted-back chair", a relaxed posture.
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.