on the mark
"on-the-mark" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“on the mark” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Precisely accurate; correct or appropriate.
Corpus desk
Index EN-on-the-mark · on the mark · English
on the mark · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" 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 | on the mark |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “on the mark” in English
Rare enough to double-check
on the mark is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Precisely accurate; correct or appropriate.".
Zero misspellings are on record for on the mark in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is on the mark, spelled O-N- -T-H-E- -M-A-R-K.
Definition
- 1Precisely accurate; correct or appropriate.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how on the mark appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The writing was often good, his feel for characters on the mark, but the book was wordy.
Three eminent mainstream British economists told MPs . . . that the government had struck the right balance between cuts and spending. Austerity is bang on the mark, they said.
Antonyms
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.