no matter what

phrase

"no-matter-what" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“no matter what” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Regardless of, in spite of, whatever.

Corpus desk

Index EN-no-matter-what · no matter what · English

no matter what · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "N" 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.

Key facts for no matter what
PropertyValue
Headwordno matter what
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPhrase
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “no matter what” in English

no matter whatranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

no matter what is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

no matter what has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is no matter what, spelled N-O- -M-A-T-T-E-R- -W-H-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Regardless of, in spite of, whatever.
  2. 2
    Regardless; in any case; even in adverse circumstances.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how no matter what appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I'm going running tomorrow no matter what the weather is doing.
  2. This project will be finished by July no matter what.

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 "no matter what"?
"no matter what" is spelled N-O- -M-A-T-T-E-R- -W-H-A-T.
What does "no matter what" mean?
As a phrase, "no matter what" means: Regardless of, in spite of, whatever.
What language does "no matter what" come from?
"no matter what" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list