like gangbusters
"like-gangbusters" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“like gangbusters” 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
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Vigorously, rapidly, zealously, or forcibly; in a manner which has considerable impact.
Corpus desk
Index EN-like-gangbusters · like gangbusters · English
like gangbusters · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 letters
- VOW-5 5 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 | like gangbusters |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “like gangbusters” in English
Rare enough to double-check
like gangbusters is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Vigorously, rapidly, zealously, or forcibly; in a manner which has considerable impact.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for like gangbusters, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the American true crime radio drama Gang Busters (1936–1957), which opened abruptly with loud sound effects of police sirens, machine guns, etc. The correct English form is like gangbusters, spelled L-I-K-E- -G-A-N-G-B-U-S-T-E-R-S.
Definition
- 1Vigorously, rapidly, zealously, or forcibly; in a manner which has considerable impact.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how like gangbusters appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"Put an actress in knock-out clothes and she'll come through like gangbusters."
Chromebooks are selling like gangbusters, but the party could be coming to an end [title]
Etymology
From the American true crime radio drama Gang Busters (1936–1957), which opened abruptly with loud sound effects of police sirens, machine guns, etc.
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.