long shot
"long-shot" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“long shot” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. 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) - A shot fired at a distant target.
Corpus desk
Index EN-long-shot · long shot · English
long shot · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 | long shot |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “long shot” in English
Rare enough to double-check
long shot is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for long shot in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From long + shot. The term arose from the accuracy of early naval guns, which were effective only at close range and unlikely to hit the mark at any great distance. The correct English form is long shot, spelled L-O-N-G- -S-H-O-T.
Definition
- 1A shot fired at a distant target.
- 2Something unlikely; something that has little chance of happening or working; long odds
- 3A master shot, the primary wide shot of a scene into which the closeups will be edited later.
- 4Synonym of long take; a single, continuous shot that lasts for an unusually long duration without any cuts.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how long shot appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"It is of course a most foolish thing twice to take a long shot in a capercailzie wood, as you know," said the captain, appealing to me; "but the last time I had no choice, because I heard that villainous Andreas stalking the bird at the same time."
We can try your plan, but it's a long shot and it probably won't work.
Etymology
From long + shot. The term arose from the accuracy of early naval guns, which were effective only at close range and unlikely to hit the mark at any great distance.
Synonyms
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.