buffoonery

/bəˈfuːnəɹi/

//bəˈfuːnəɹi// noun

"buffoonery" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“buffoonery” is uncommon English (frequency #77,487 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,487
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The behaviour expected of a buffoon; foolishness, silliness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-buffoonery · buffoonery · English

buffoonery · rank #77,487 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,487
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH budged

Nearest frequency peer: budged (-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 “buffoonery”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for buffoonery
PropertyValue
Headwordbuffoonery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bəˈfuːnəɹi/
Letters10
Frequency rank#77,487
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “buffoonery” 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).buffooneryfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “budged” (#77,486), “bucko” (#77,485), “buncombe” (#77,489). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “buffoonery” is #77,487. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

buffoonery is uncommon English at frequency #77,487 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /bəˈfuːnəɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The behaviour expected of a buffoon; foolishness, silliness.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for buffoonery, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From buffoon + -ery. The correct English form is buffoonery, spelled B-U-F-F-O-O-N-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The behaviour expected of a buffoon; foolishness, silliness.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Araminta, come I'll talk ſeriouſly to you now, could you but ſee vvith my Eyes the buffoonry of one Scene of Addreſs, a Lover, ſet out with all his Equipage and Appurtenances; […]
  2. [W]e ſet him [the Devil] up like a Scare-Crovv to fright Children and old VVomen, to fill up old Stories, make Songs and Ballads, and in a VVord, carry on the lovv priz'd Buffoonry of the common People; […]

Etymology

From buffoon + -ery.

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); 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 "buffoonery"?
"buffoonery" is spelled B-U-F-F-O-O-N-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /bəˈfuːnəɹi/.
What does "buffoonery" mean?
As a noun, "buffoonery" means: The behaviour expected of a buffoon; foolishness, silliness.
How do you pronounce "buffoonery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "buffoonery" is /bəˈfuːnəɹi/. 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 "buffoonery"?
From buffoon + -ery. 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 "buffoonery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list