workaday
/ˈwɜːkədeɪ/
"workaday" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“workaday” is an uncommon English word, ranked #92,256 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #92,256
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Suitable for everyday use.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | workaday |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈwɜːkədeɪ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #92,256 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “workaday” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for workaday is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɜːkədeɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #92,256 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for workaday in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Middle English werkedei, from Old Norse virkr dagr (“working day”). Cognate to later workday; see work and day. Used in adjective sense from 16th century. By surface analysis, work + -a- + day. First attested in c. 1200. The correct English form is workaday, spelled W-O-R-K-A-D-A-Y.
Definition
- 1Suitable for everyday use.
- 2Mundane or commonplace.
Etymology
Middle English werkedei, from Old Norse virkr dagr (“working day”). Cognate to later workday; see work and day. Used in adjective sense from 16th century. By surface analysis, work + -a- + day. First attested in c. 1200.
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “workaday”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-O-R-K-A-D-A-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɜːkədeɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.