longshot

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

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

The verdict

“longshot” is uncommon English (frequency #54,314 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,314
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of long shot.

Corpus desk

Index EN-longshot · longshot · English

longshot · rank #54,314 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,314
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Louvain

Nearest frequency peer: Louvain (+1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “longshot”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “longshot” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for longshot
PropertyValue
Headwordlongshot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#54,314
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “longshot” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).longshotfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Louvain” (#54,315), “Lucretia” (#54,316), “lithe” (#54,311). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “longshot” is #54,314. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

longshot is uncommon English at frequency #54,314 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alternative spelling of long shot.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for longshot in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From long + shot. The correct English form is longshot, spelled L-O-N-G-S-H-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of long shot.

Etymology

From long + shot.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "longshot"?
"longshot" is spelled L-O-N-G-S-H-O-T.
What does "longshot" mean?
As a noun, "longshot" means: Alternative spelling of long shot.
What is the origin of the word "longshot"?
From long + shot. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "longshot", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Lucretia#54,316MacGyver#54,319marchant#54,324medicate#54,330

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list