slip of the pen
"slip-of-the-pen" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“slip of the pen” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A mistake in handwriting; (loosely) any minor error by the writer that made it into print, having not been caught by editors or proofreaders.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | slip of the pen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “slip of the pen” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
slip of the pen is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A mistake in handwriting; (loosely) any minor error by the writer that made it into print, having not been caught by editors or proofreaders.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for slip of the pen, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is slip of the pen, spelled S-L-I-P- -O-F- -T-H-E- -P-E-N.
Definition
- 1A mistake in handwriting; (loosely) any minor error by the writer that made it into print, having not been caught by editors or proofreaders.
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
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Using “slip of the pen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-L-I-P- -O-F- -T-H-E- -P-E-N - 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.