overstep the mark
"overstep-the-mark" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“overstep the mark” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. 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) - To behave in an unacceptable or morally reprehensible way.
Corpus desk
Index EN-overstep-the-mark · overstep the mark · English
overstep the mark · 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 "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 | overstep the mark |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “overstep the mark” in English
Rare enough to double-check
overstep the mark is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To behave in an unacceptable or morally reprehensible way.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for overstep the mark in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is overstep the mark, spelled O-V-E-R-S-T-E-P- -T-H-E- -M-A-R-K.
Definition
- 1To behave in an unacceptable or morally reprehensible way.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how overstep the mark appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"If Russia mobilises, it is for defence. No nation in the world would dream of attacking Germany, nor has Germany the slightest intention of imperilling her coming supremacy amongst the nations by such crude methods as military enterprise. Servia must be punished, naturally, but to that, in principle, every nation in Europe is agreed. We shall not permit…
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.