run hot and cold
"run-hot-and-cold" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“run hot and cold” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To alternate between two opposite extremes, such as enthusiasm and disinterest or success and failure.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | run hot and cold |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “run hot and cold” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
run hot and cold is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To alternate between two opposite extremes, such as enthusiasm and disinterest or success and failure.".
run hot and cold has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is run hot and cold, spelled R-U-N- -H-O-T- -A-N-D- -C-O-L-D.
Definition
- 1To alternate between two opposite extremes, such as enthusiasm and disinterest or success and failure.
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 “run hot and cold”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-U-N- -H-O-T- -A-N-D- -C-O-L-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.