to the nines
"to-the-nines" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“to the nines” 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
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To perfection; fully, wholly.
Corpus desk
Index EN-to-the-nines · to the nines · English
to the nines · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | to the nines |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “to the nines” in English
Rare enough to double-check
to the nines is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To perfection; fully, wholly.".
to the nines doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scots, perhaps a rebracketing of to then eyne (“to the eyes”) or to thyn eyne (“(up) to your eyes”). The correct English form is to the nines, spelled T-O- -T-H-E- -N-I-N-E-S.
Definition
- 1To perfection; fully, wholly.
Etymology
From Scots, perhaps a rebracketing of to then eyne (“to the eyes”) or to thyn eyne (“(up) to your eyes”).
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.