weasel out

verb

"weasel-out" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“weasel out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.)

Corpus desk

Index EN-weasel-out · weasel out · English

weasel out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "W" 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 weasel out
PropertyValue
Headwordweasel out
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “weasel out” in English

weasel outfalls 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

weasel out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

weasel out doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is weasel out, spelled W-E-A-S-E-L- -O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.)
  2. 2
    To obtain or extract, especially by cunning methods.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. With the costs of Desert Shield likely to double, Congress fumes at those allies who seem to be weaseling out of their pledges to help.
  2. And if they try to weasel out that way, Obama is warning them that he'll "call them out."

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

How do you spell "weasel out"?
"weasel out" is spelled W-E-A-S-E-L- -O-U-T.
What does "weasel out" mean?
As a verb, "weasel out" means: To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.)
What language does "weasel out" come from?
"weasel out" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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