cloy
/klɔɪ/verb
cloy is spelled C-L-O-Y: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Cloy, the name). As a verb, cloy means “To fill up or choke up; to stop up” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in cloy?
| Letters | 4: C-L-O-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 33 million words; the 176,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cloy?
Cloy appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Cloy, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cloy?
- US /klɔɪ/
Cloy has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cloy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cloy?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cloy from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɪ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: coly.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cloy
- cloys present, singular, he/she/it
- cloying participle, present
- cloyed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cloy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To fill up or choke up; to stop up.
- 2
To clog, to glut, or satisfy, as the appetite; to satiate.
- 3
To fill to loathing; to surfeit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cloy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense fill to loathing:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cloy come from?
From an aphetic form of Middle English acloyen, from Old French enclouer, encloer, from Vulgar Latin *inclāvāre, from Late Latin clāvāre, from Latin clāvus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).