not worth a curse
"not-worth-a-curse" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“not worth a curse” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Worthless.
Corpus desk
Index EN-not-worth-a-curse · not worth a curse · English
not worth a curse · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 17 letters
- VOW-5 5 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | not worth a curse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “not worth a curse” in English
Rare enough to double-check
not worth a curse is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Worthless.".
No misspelling variants are generated for not worth a curse in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Corrupted from earlier not worth a cress. The correct English form is not worth a curse, spelled N-O-T- -W-O-R-T-H- -A- -C-U-R-S-E.
Definition
- 1Worthless.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how not worth a curse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
Etymology
Corrupted from earlier not worth a cress.
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.