set store by

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"set-store-by" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“set store by” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To believe that something is very necessary or important; to value highly.

Key facts for set store by
PropertyValue
Headwordset store by
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “set store by” sits in English frequency

set store by falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

set store by is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To believe that something is very necessary or important; to value highly.".

set store by doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is set store by, spelled S-E-T- -S-T-O-R-E- -B-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    To believe that something is very necessary or important; to value highly.

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 "set store by"?
"set store by" is spelled S-E-T- -S-T-O-R-E- -B-Y.
What does "set store by" mean?
As a verb, "set store by" means: To believe that something is very necessary or important; to value highly.
What language does "set store by" come from?
"set store by" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “set store by”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-E-T- -S-T-O-R-E- -B-Y - 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list