beady

/ˈbiː.di/

//ˈbiː.di// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"beady" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“beady” is uncommon English (frequency #54,037 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,037
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Resembling beads; small, round, and gleaming.

Corpus desk

Index EN-beady · beady · English

beady · rank #54,037 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,037
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH beading

Nearest frequency peer: beading (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “beady”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “beady” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for beady
PropertyValue
Headwordbeady
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈbiː.di/
Letters5
Frequency rank#54,037
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “beady” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).beadyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “beading” (#54,036), “Beaverton” (#54,038), “Bayswater” (#54,035). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “beady” is #54,037. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

beady is uncommon English at frequency #54,037 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈbiː.di/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for beady in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bead + -y. The correct English form is beady, spelled B-E-A-D-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Resembling beads; small, round, and gleaming.
  2. 2
    Bright and penetrating. (of eyes or a look)
  3. 3
    Covered or ornamented with, or as if with, beads.
  4. 4
    Characterized by beads.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how beady appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. seeing Mrs. Bute's beady eyes
  2. I shivered in every limb, and a cold beady dew sprang out on my temples as I stood with eyes riveted on the spectral figure before me.

Etymology

From bead + -y.

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

How do you spell "beady"?
"beady" is spelled B-E-A-D-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbiː.di/.
What does "beady" mean?
As an adjective, "beady" means: Resembling beads; small, round, and gleaming.
How do you pronounce "beady"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beady" is /ˈbiː.di/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "beady"?
From bead + -y. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "beady", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

balsa#54,032Azusa#54,029Azeri#54,028augur#54,024

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list