bony

/ˈbəʊni/

//ˈbəʊni// adj

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

"bony" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bony” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,859. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,859
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Resembling, having the appearance or consistence of, or relating to bone; osseous.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bony · bony · English

bony · rank #20,859 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,859
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bona

Nearest frequency peer: bona (-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 “bony”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “bony” 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).

bony vs by
50% similar
bony vs buy
50% similar
bony vs boy
75% similar

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

Key facts for bony
PropertyValue
Headwordbony
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈbəʊni/
Letters4
Frequency rank#20,859
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bony”

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).bonylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bona” (#20,858), “borrower” (#20,860), “bolted” (#20,857). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bony” is #20,859. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around bony (IPA /ˈbəʊni/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #20,859 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for bony, with forms such as "bbony", "bnoy", and "bonyy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "buy", "boy", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bony, equivalent to bone + -y. The correct English form is bony, spelled B-O-N-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Resembling, having the appearance or consistence of, or relating to bone; osseous.
  2. 2
    Full of bones.
  3. 3
    With little flesh; skinny, thin.
  4. 4
    Having prominent bones.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. That bony fellow could use a few hot dinners.

Etymology

From Middle English bony, equivalent to bone + -y.

This word in other languages

huesudo(Español)osseux(Français)knöchern(Deutsch)ósseo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbony
  • bnoy
  • bonyy
  • boyn
  • obny

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbony1bnoy2bonyy1boyn2obny2
Edit distance from "bony"

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 "bony"?
"bony" is spelled B-O-N-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbəʊni/.
What does "bony" mean?
As an adjective, "bony" means: Resembling, having the appearance or consistence of, or relating to bone; osseous.
What words are commonly confused with "bony"?
"bony" is commonly confused with "by", "buy", "boy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bony"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bony" is /ˈbəʊni/. 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 "bony"?
From Middle English bony, equivalent to bone + -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 "bony", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bona#20,858balm#20,852anus#20,835alum#20,832

Similar misspelling depth

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

ahem5 variantsUrdu5 variantsemit5 variantsGuam5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list