whip-smart
/ˈʍɪpˌsmɑːt/
"whip-smart" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“whip-smart” 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 2, 2026) - Very intelligent.
Corpus desk
Index EN-whip-smart · whip-smart · English
whip-smart · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-2 2 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | whip-smart |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈʍɪpˌsmɑːt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “whip-smart” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
whip-smart is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈʍɪpˌsmɑːt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Very intelligent.".
No misspelling variants are generated for whip-smart in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. 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: Inversion of earlier smart as a whip (compare rock solid, from solid as a rock; snow-white, from white as snow; etc.). Possibly an allusion to how quickly the tip of a whip moves when the whip is cracked. The correct English form is whip-smart, spelled W-H-I-P---S-M-A-R-T.
Definition
- 1Very intelligent.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how whip-smart appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Seeing them here in town, smart in American-style uniforms, Peru's Army looks extremely well-trained, whip-smart.
[Reed F.] Cutler, 350-pounder from Lewistown in the strip coalmining area, was a constant thorn in the Democratic side. A whip-smart parliamentarian, he effectively filled the role of "needler" as House Republican Leader.
Etymology
Inversion of earlier smart as a whip (compare rock solid, from solid as a rock; snow-white, from white as snow; etc.). Possibly an allusion to how quickly the tip of a whip moves when the whip is cracked.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.