work ethic
"work-ethic" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“work ethic” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The value that one ought to work hard at one's job or duties.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | work ethic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “work ethic” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
work ethic is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for work ethic, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is work ethic, spelled W-O-R-K- -E-T-H-I-C.
Definition
- 1The value that one ought to work hard at one's job or duties.
- 2The tendency to work hard at one's job or duties.
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 "work ethic"?
What does "work ethic" mean?
What language does "work ethic" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “work ethic”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-O-R-K- -E-T-H-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.