when all is said and done

phrase

"when-all-is-said-and-done" is a 20-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“when all is said and done” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
25
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In the end; ultimately.

Corpus desk

Index EN-when-all-is-said-and-don · when all is said and done · English

when all is said and done · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 25 letters
  • VOW-8 8 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 when all is said and done
PropertyValue
Headwordwhen all is said and done
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPhrase
Letters25
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “when all is said and done” in English

when all is said and donefalls 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

when all is said and done is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In the end; ultimately.".

Zero misspellings are on record for when all is said and done in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is when all is said and done, spelled W-H-E-N- -A-L-L- -I-S- -S-A-I-D- -A-N-D- -D-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    In the end; ultimately.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how when all is said and done appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. When all is said and done, you will find it is a smaller project than it appears.
  2. when all was said and done, nothing that was said was done.

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 "when all is said and done"?
"when all is said and done" is spelled W-H-E-N- -A-L-L- -I-S- -S-A-I-D- -A-N-D- -D-O-N-E.
What does "when all is said and done" mean?
As a phrase, "when all is said and done" means: In the end; ultimately.
What language does "when all is said and done" come from?
"when all is said and done" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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