wide of the mark
/ˈwaɪd əv ðə ˈmɑːk/
"wide-of-the-mark" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wide of the mark” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a projectile: missing the target.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wide-of-the-mark · wide of the mark · English
wide of the mark · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wide of the mark |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈwaɪd əv ðə ˈmɑːk/ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “wide of the mark” in English
Rare enough to double-check
wide of the mark is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈwaɪd əv ðə ˈmɑːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
wide of the mark has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From archery and sports jargon. Sometimes corrupted to wide(ly) off the mark (as in far off the mark, way off base). The correct English form is wide of the mark, spelled W-I-D-E- -O-F- -T-H-E- -M-A-R-K.
Definition
- 1Of a projectile: missing the target.
- 2(Very) inaccurate.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wide of the mark appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Each had a gun, and the three had been shooting at a number of rabbits. Only Werner had been successful, the others shooting wide of the mark.
In most duels, both men usually felt that honor was satisfied even when their shots went wide of the mark, and very often both duelists purposely shot into the air or the ground. But this time both men [Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson] meant to shoot to kill.
Etymology
From archery and sports jargon. Sometimes corrupted to wide(ly) off the mark (as in far off the mark, way off base).
Synonyms
Antonyms
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.