well-built

adj

"well-built" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“well-built” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. 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) - Constructed in a pleasing or sound manner.

Corpus desk

Index EN-well-built · well-built · English

well-built · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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 well-built
PropertyValue
Headwordwell-built
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “well-built” in English

well-builtfalls 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

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

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for well-built, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From well + built. The correct English form is well-built, spelled W-E-L-L---B-U-I-L-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Constructed in a pleasing or sound manner.
  2. 2
    Muscular and lean, having a body resembling that of an athlete.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The basics of a well-built garden
  2. It ran derailed for about 500 yards before encountering a set of points, which caused it to veer into the path of an Immingham-Ferrybridge coal train, powered by Freightliner 66521 (one of a class of locomotive well-known for being well-built enough to destroy anything that got in its way).

Etymology

From well + built.

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 "well-built"?
"well-built" is spelled W-E-L-L---B-U-I-L-T.
What does "well-built" mean?
As an adjective, "well-built" means: Constructed in a pleasing or sound manner.
What is the origin of the word "well-built"?
From well + built. 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