bogey

/bəʊɡi/

//bəʊɡi// noun

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

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

The verdict

“bogey” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #31,877. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#31,877
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bogey · bogey · English

bogey · rank #31,877 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #31,877
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Bloomsbury

Nearest frequency peer: Bloomsbury (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bogey”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bogey” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bogey vs boy
60% similar
bogey vs bone
60% similar
bogey vs bore
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bogey
PropertyValue
Headwordbogey
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bəʊɡi/
Letters5
Frequency rank#31,877
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bogey”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bogeylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Bloomsbury” (#31,876), “bol” (#31,878), “Bolsheviks” (#31,879). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bogey” is #31,877. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around bogey (IPA /bəʊɡi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #31,877 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for bogey, with forms such as "bbogey", "bgoey", and "boegy". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "boy", "bone", "bore", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence bug), itself of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, o… The correct English form is bogey, spelled B-O-G-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature.
  2. 2
    The Devil.
  3. 3
    A bugbear: any terrifying thing.
  4. 4
    A police officer.
  5. 5
    A standard of performance set up as a mark to be aimed at in competition.
  6. 6
    An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.
  7. 7
    Synonym of bandit: an enemy aircraft.
  8. 8
    The notional opponent of a golfer playing alone.
  9. 9
    A score of one over par on a hole.
  10. 10
    A piece of mucus in or removed from the nostril; a booger.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. If one man could be said to be responsible for the creation of the Russian bogy, it was a much-decorated British general named Sir Robert Wilson.
  2. Religious divides [among Protestants] went deep — this is evident from the reams of sermons and theological polemics published and avidly read — and only bashing the old bogey of Romism ('No Popery!') could unite Protestants.

Etymology

Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence bug), itself of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, older “fear”), Irish bagairt (“threat”), but perhaps the root was borrowed from Germanic. Otherwise from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge and Alemannic German Böögg (“goblin”, “snot”). See also Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), Old English pūca (“goblin, mischievous spirit”), Icelandic púki Swedish puke (“small devil, spook”), whence obsolete English puck. Perhaps the Middle English and Welsh words come from a word related to buck and originally referred to a goat-shaped specter. Compare also booger. The golf sense is from the devil as an imaginary player. The sometimes proscribed conflation with bandit was popularized by the 1986 film Top Gun.

This word in other languages

bogey(Français)Gottseibeiuns(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbogey
  • bgoey
  • boegy
  • bogeyy
  • boggey
  • bogye
  • obgey

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bogey - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

bbogey1bgoey2boegy2bogeyy1boggey1bogye2obgey2
Edit distance from "bogey"

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 "bogey"?
"bogey" is spelled B-O-G-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /bəʊɡi/.
What does "bogey" mean?
As a noun, "bogey" means: A ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature.
What words are commonly confused with "bogey"?
"bogey" is commonly confused with "boy", "bone", "bore". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bogey"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bogey" is /bəʊɡi/. 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 "bogey"?
Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence bug), itself of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“... 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 "bogey", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

beret#31,873boron#31,881bugle#31,888Burch#31,890

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Wylie7 variantswedded7 variantstwine7 variantserasure7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list