headlong
/ˈhɛd.lɔŋ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.72 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
With the head first or down.
adv
With an unrestrained forward motion.
adv
Rashly; precipitately; without deliberation; in haste, hastily.
adj
Example Sentences
- "[A] sharp-looking old dame, […] inhabited a "laigh [low] shop," anglicé [in English], a cellar, opening to the High-street by a strait and steep stair, at the bottom of which she sold tape, thread, needles, skeans of worsted, coarse linen cloth, and such feminine gear, to those who had the courage and skill to descend to the profundity of her dwelling, without falling headlong themselves, or throwing down any of the numerous articles which, piled on each side of the descent, indicated the profession of the trader below."
- "Figures out today show the economy plunging headlong into recession."
- "When his eyes were clear again, he saw the monster had passed and was rushing landward. Big iron upper-works rose out of this headlong structure, and from that twin funnels projected, and spat a smoking blast shot with fire into the air. It was the torpedo-ram, Thunder Child, steaming headlong, coming to the rescue of the threatened shipping."
- "Realizing he is now boxed in on all sides, Hipper decides the only remaining card he has to play is to sell his ships as dearly as possible. The remaining German ships make a hard turn southeast, and drive headlong at the Grand Fleet. It is a brave gesture, but only eight of the ships emerge from the pall of smoke that roughly marks the original German line of advance. Two more emerge minutes later, but that is all."
- "I felt deja vu as I recalled a video in which a Tesla owner slammed on the brakes after his car appeared set on crashing headlong into a construction site."
- "Their path led them past sharp cliffs, along narrow trails unknown and untrodden, past headlong boulders strewn across barren, treeless, wind-haunted heights."
Etymology
From Middle English hedlong, alteration of hedling, heedling, hevedlynge (“headlong”), assimilated to long. More at headling.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: hedlong
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhɛd.lɔŋ/
- British English: /ˈhɛd.lɒŋ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more headlong (comparative)
most headlong (superlative)
headlongs (present, singular)
headlonging (participle, present)
headlonged (participle, past)
headlonged (past)