to a hair

/tuː‿ə ˈhɛə/

//tuː‿ə ˈhɛə// prep_phrase

"to-a-hair" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“to a hair” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_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) - To a high degree of precision; with the utmost exactness; to a nicety.

Corpus desk

Index EN-to-a-hair · to a hair · English

to a hair · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" 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 to a hair
PropertyValue
Headwordto a hair
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPrep_phrase
IPA/tuː‿ə ˈhɛə/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “to a hair” in English

to a hairfalls 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

to a hair is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase, transcribed /tuː‿ə ˈhɛə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To a high degree of precision; with the utmost exactness; to a nicety.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for to a hair in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: A reference to the very small diameter of a strand of hair: compare hair's breadth. The correct English form is to a hair, spelled T-O- -A- -H-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    To a high degree of precision; with the utmost exactness; to a nicety.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Pand[arus]. Youle remember your brothers excuſe? / Par[is]. To a hayre.
  2. As to our own representative, the well-known athlete and international Rugby football player, E. D. Malone, he looks trained to a hair, and as he surveyed the crowd a smile of good-humored contentment pervaded his honest but homely face.

Etymology

A reference to the very small diameter of a strand of hair: compare hair's breadth.

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 "to a hair"?
"to a hair" is spelled T-O- -A- -H-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is /tuː‿ə ˈhɛə/.
What does "to a hair" mean?
As a prep_phrase, "to a hair" means: To a high degree of precision; with the utmost exactness; to a nicety.
How do you pronounce "to a hair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "to a hair" is /tuː‿ə ˈhɛə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "to a hair"?
A reference to the very small diameter of a strand of hair: compare hair's breadth. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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