say again

phrase

"say-again" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“say again” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - "What did you say?" or "Repeat what you have said." A polite formula used when one has not heard or understood what has been said.

Corpus desk

Index EN-say-again · say again · English

say again · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" 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 say again
PropertyValue
Headwordsay again
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPhrase
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “say again” in English

say againsits 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

say again is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for say again in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is say again, spelled S-A-Y- -A-G-A-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    "What did you say?" or "Repeat what you have said." A polite formula used when one has not heard or understood what has been said.
  2. 2
    To repeat part of or entire message transmitted over the radio, used instead of "repeat" which is an artillery procedure word.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how say again appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Please say again?
  2. Bravo Six, say again, over.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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 "say again"?
"say again" is spelled S-A-Y- -A-G-A-I-N.
What does "say again" mean?
As a phrase, "say again" means: "What did you say?" or "Repeat what you have said." A polite formula used when one has not heard or understood what has been said.
What language does "say again" come from?
"say again" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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