bow-wow
"bow-wow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bow-wow” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Representing the sound of a dog barking.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bow-wow · bow-wow · English
bow-wow · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bow-wow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bow-wow” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bow-wow is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Representing the sound of a dog barking.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for bow-wow in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Onomatopoeic. The correct English form is bow-wow, spelled B-O-W---W-O-W.
Definition
- 1Representing the sound of a dog barking.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bow-wow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Harke, harke, bowgh wawgh: the watch-Dogges barke, bowgh-wawgh.
She […] hath ſtiled him with an immortall penne, the bawewawe of ſchollars, the tutt of gentlemen, the tee-heegh of gentlewomen, the phy of citizens, the blurt of Courtiers, the poogh of good letters, the faph of good manners, and the whoop-hooe of good boyes in London ſtreetes.
Etymology
Onomatopoeic.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.