out of joint
"out-of-joint" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“out of joint” 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
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dislocated.
Corpus desk
Index EN-out-of-joint · out of joint · English
out of joint · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 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 | out of joint |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “out of joint” in English
Rare enough to double-check
out of joint is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for out of joint in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is out of joint, spelled O-U-T- -O-F- -J-O-I-N-T.
Definition
- 1Dislocated.
- 2Chaotic, disordered, out of control.
- 3Not in harmony, in step or in line (with something).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how out of joint appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I fell over and put my shoulder out of joint.
Fla[via]. Come, Sir Pergamus, till your horse come, you and I'll go play at shuttle-cock. / Per[gamus]. A match i'faith. I love that sport a' life. Yet my mother charged me not to use it for fear of putting my arm out of joint.
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.