spread-eagle
"spread-eagle" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spread-eagle” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lying with arms and legs outstretched and separated.
Corpus desk
Index EN-spread-eagle · spread-eagle · English
spread-eagle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spread-eagle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “spread-eagle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
spread-eagle is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for spread-eagle, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From splayed-eagle (in heraldry), splayed + eagle. The correct English form is spread-eagle, spelled S-P-R-E-A-D---E-A-G-L-E.
Definition
- 1Lying with arms and legs outstretched and separated.
- 2Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; bombastic.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how spread-eagle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
a spread-eagle orator
a spread-eagle speech
Etymology
From splayed-eagle (in heraldry), splayed + eagle.
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.