put someone in their place

verb

"put-someone-in-their-place" is a 22-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“put someone in their place” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
26
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To remind someone of their position.

Corpus desk

Index EN-put-someone-in-their-pla · put someone in their place · English

put someone in their place · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 26 letters
  • VOW-10 10 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" 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.

Key facts for put someone in their place
PropertyValue
Headwordput someone in their place
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters26
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “put someone in their place” in English

put someone in their placesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

put someone in their place is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for put someone in their place, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, 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 put someone in their place, spelled P-U-T- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E- -I-N- -T-H-E-I-R- -P-L-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To remind someone of their position.
  2. 2
    To bring somebody down; to humble or rebuke.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how put someone in their place appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. His quips at the party aimed to put the CEO in his place.
  2. The response, culminating in Rooney finishing off a slick exchange of incisive, pass-them-to-death football, quickly put Scotland back in their place.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "put someone in their place"?
"put someone in their place" is spelled P-U-T- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E- -I-N- -T-H-E-I-R- -P-L-A-C-E.
What does "put someone in their place" mean?
As a verb, "put someone in their place" means: To remind someone of their position.
What language does "put someone in their place" come from?
"put someone in their place" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list