manifest destiny
"manifest-destiny" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“manifest destiny” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. 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) - The political doctrine or belief held by the United States of America, particularly during its expansion, that the nation was obviously destined to expand toward the west.
Corpus desk
Index EN-manifest-destiny · manifest destiny · English
manifest destiny · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" 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 | manifest destiny |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “manifest destiny” in English
Rare enough to double-check
manifest destiny is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
manifest destiny has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Popularly attributed to newspaper editor John O'Sullivan (1813–1895). The phrase was first used primarily by Jackson Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States. The correct English form is manifest destiny, spelled M-A-N-I-F-E-S-T- -D-E-S-T-I-N-Y.
Definition
- 1The political doctrine or belief held by the United States of America, particularly during its expansion, that the nation was obviously destined to expand toward the west.
- 2The political doctrine or belief held by many citizens of the United States of America that their system is best, and the idea that all humans would like to become Americans.
- 3The belief that God supports the expansion of the United States of America throughout the entire North American continent except Mexico.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how manifest destiny appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: American exceptionalism
Etymology
Popularly attributed to newspaper editor John O'Sullivan (1813–1895). The phrase was first used primarily by Jackson Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States.
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.