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make-the-cut

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Detailed reference entry for the English word "make-the-cut", 12-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "make-the-cut" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "make-the-cut" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

The verdict

“make the cut” 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
12
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: To succeed at something or meet a requirement; to be chosen out of a field of candidates or possibilities.

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Key facts for make the cut
PropertyValue
Headwordmake the cut
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “make the cut” sits in English frequency

make the cut falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words — the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for make the cut is 12 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To succeed at something or meet a requirement; to be chosen out of a field of candidates or possibilities.".

No misspelling variants are generated for make the cut in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the sport of golf, in which players are said to make the cut when they match or exceed a certain score, thus avoiding elimination during the final two rounds of a four-round tournament. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is make the cut, spelled M-A-K-E- -T-H-E- -C-U-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To succeed at something or meet a requirement; to be chosen out of a field of candidates or possibilities.

Etymology

From the sport of golf, in which players are said to make the cut when they match or exceed a certain score, thus avoiding elimination during the final two rounds of a four-round tournament.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "make the cut"?
"make the cut" is spelled M-A-K-E- -T-H-E- -C-U-T.
What does "make the cut" mean?
As a verb, "make the cut" means: To succeed at something or meet a requirement; to be chosen out of a field of candidates or possibilities.
What is the origin of the word "make the cut"?
From the sport of golf, in which players are said to make the cut when they match or exceed a certain score, thus avoiding elimination during the final two rounds of a four-round tournament. 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.

Using “make the cut”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-K-E- -T-H-E- -C-U-T — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index:

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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.