under the weather
/ˈʌndə ðə ˈwɛðə/
"under-the-weather" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“under the weather” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ill or gloomy, especially from a cold or flu.
Corpus desk
Index EN-under-the-weather · under the weather · English
under the weather · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 17 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "U" 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 | under the weather |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈʌndə ðə ˈwɛðə/ |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “under the weather” in English
Rare enough to double-check
under the weather is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈʌndə ðə ˈwɛðə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
under the weather has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From under the weather bow (“affected by bad weather; seasick”); weather bow is a nautical term referring to the side of a ship exposed to bad weather. The correct English form is under the weather, spelled U-N-D-E-R- -T-H-E- -W-E-A-T-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1ill or gloomy, especially from a cold or flu.
- 2Somewhat intoxicated or suffering from a hangover.
- 3Experiencing adversity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how under the weather appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] I met a stranger, a quiet little man, who also had been under the weather from malaria.
I was a bit under the weather last night: out with a party of friends, you know. Dare say we all had a bit more than we could carry.
Etymology
From under the weather bow (“affected by bad weather; seasick”); weather bow is a nautical term referring to the side of a ship exposed to bad weather.
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.