outgo
/ˌaʊtˈɡəʊ/
"outgo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“outgo” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To go further than (someone or something); to exceed, to go beyond, to surpass.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | outgo |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌaʊtˈɡəʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “outgo” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for outgo is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌaʊtˈɡəʊ/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for outgo in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. 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: PIE word *úd The verb is derived from Middle English outgon (“to go out, depart, leave; to come out, emerge; to escape; to protrude; of a sword: to be drawn; to emanate from (a place); to accompany”), from Old English ūtgān (“to go out”), Proto-West German… The correct English form is outgo, spelled O-U-T-G-O.
Definition
- 1To go further than (someone or something); to exceed, to go beyond, to surpass.
- 2To experience, go through, or undergo (something).
- 3To travel faster than (someone or something); to outstrip, to overtake.
- 4To go out, to set forth, to set out.
- 5To go too far; to overextend or overreach.
Etymology
PIE word *úd The verb is derived from Middle English outgon (“to go out, depart, leave; to come out, emerge; to escape; to protrude; of a sword: to be drawn; to emanate from (a place); to accompany”), from Old English ūtgān (“to go out”), Proto-West Germanic *ūtgān (“to go out”), equivalent to out- + go. See also go out. Compare Middle English outwenden (“to go out, depart, leave; to escape; to be emitted, fly out from; of a weapon: to be drawn”), which, like modern outgo, had the past tense and past participle form outwent. The noun is derived from modern English out- (prefix meaning ‘away from; toward the outside of’) + go. Sense 1 (“cost, expenditure, or outlay”) was probably modelled on income. Cognates * Scots outgae * West Frisian útgean * Dutch uitgaan * German Low German utgahn * German ausgehen * Swedish utgå
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
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Using “outgo”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-U-T-G-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌaʊtˈɡəʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.