cagey
/ˈkeɪd͡ʒi/
"cagey" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cagey” is uncommon English (frequency #59,938 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #59,938
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Wary, careful, shrewd.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cagey · cagey · English
cagey · rank #59,938 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #59,938
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH Buchholz
Nearest frequency peer: Buchholz (-3 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 “cagey”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- bubs
bubs
40,067 corpus weight
- Buchholz
Buchholz
40,066 corpus weight
- cagey
cagey
40,063 corpus weight
- carbonaceous
carbonaceous
40,060 corpus weight
- carbonic
carbonic
40,058 corpus weight
- Carrara
Carrara
40,057 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “cagey” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cagey |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkeɪd͡ʒi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #59,938 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cagey” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cagey is uncommon English at frequency #59,938 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkeɪd͡ʒi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
cagey has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Initially US colloquial, of unknown origin. A connection with the behavior of caged prisoners (wary and closed-lipped) and caged animals (wary) has been speculated. If so, by surface analysis, cage + -y. The correct English form is cagey, spelled C-A-G-E-Y.
Definition
- 1Wary, careful, shrewd.
- 2Uncommunicative; unwilling or hesitant to give information.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cagey appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Samara: I will be in the shadows watching, Shepard. You will never be alone -- this I swear. But you cannot barge in with guns and allies. Samara: Morinth is far too cagey -- she'd simply disappear. This is a subtle, delicate act. Trust me.
But with both sides in the Premier League's bottom three before the game began, the three points at stake made for a cagey match.
Etymology
Initially US colloquial, of unknown origin. A connection with the behavior of caged prisoners (wary and closed-lipped) and caged animals (wary) has been speculated. If so, by surface analysis, cage + -y.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cagey", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).