look up
/ˈlʊk ʌp/
"look-up" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“look up” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see look, up.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | look up |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈlʊk ʌp/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “look up” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for look up is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlʊk ʌp/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
look up doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is look up, spelled L-O-O-K- -U-P.
Definition
- 1Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see look, up.
- 2To have better prospects.
- 3To obtain, or seek to obtain, information about something.
- 4To obtain, or seek to obtain, information about something.
- 5To obtain, or seek to obtain, information about something.
- 6To reconnect or meet with someone that one used to know.
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 "look up"?
What does "look up" mean?
How do you pronounce "look up"?
What language does "look up" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “look up”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-O-O-K- -U-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlʊk ʌp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.