ally

al·ly/ˈæl.aɪ/verb, noun

ally is spelled A-L-L-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables (al·ly). It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “alley vs ally” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, ally means “To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in ally?

Letters	4: A-L-L-Y
Syllables	2: al·ly
In writing	13 times per million words; the 6,047th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Pairs people search	alley vs ally
Same letters	yall

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is ally?

Ally appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form in the list.

ally0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce ally?

UK /ˈæl.aɪ/
UK /əˈlaɪ/
US /ˈæl.aɪ/

Ally has 2 syllables, split al·ly in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ally1.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ally2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with ally

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

alley vs ally880 G

Also written: alley.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with ally?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as ally (/ælaɪ/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: yall.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of ally

allies present, singular, he/she/it, plural
allying participle, present
allied participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
allyest present, singular
allyeth present, singular, he/she/it
more -ally comparative
most -ally superlative
⠠⠽

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ally mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

1
To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
2
Chiefly followed by to or with: to connect or form a relation to (someone or something) by similarity in features or nature.
3
To join or unite (oneself or itself) against, with, etc., someone or something else.
4
Chiefly followed by with: to enter into an alliance or unite for a common aim.

noun

1
A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend.
2
A person who, or organization which, supports a demographic group subject to discrimination and/or misrepresentation but is not a member of the group; specifically (LGBTQ), a person who is not a member of the LGBT+ community but is supportive of it.
I’m glad you want to be a better ally to the disabled.
3
A person, group, state, etc., which is associated or united by treaty with another for a common (especially military or political) purpose; a confederate.
The two countries were allies in World War I.
4
Something regarded as connected with or related to another thing by similarity in features or nature.
5
An organism which is related to another organism through common evolutionary origin; specifically, a species which is closely related to another species, usually within the same family.
The order of Gruiformes includes cranes and their allies.
6
A person, group, concept, etc., which is associated with another as a helper; an auxiliary; a supporter.
7
obsoleteA kinsman or kinswoman; a relative.
8
obsoleteOne's relatives; kin, kindred, relations; also, relationship through descent or marriage; kinship.
9
obsoletePeople, groups, states, etc., which are associated or united with each other for a common purpose; confederates; also, the state of being allied; alliance, confederation.