cocky
/ˈkɒk.i/
"cocky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cocky” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,321. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #17,321
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Overly confident; arrogant and boastful.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cocky · cocky · English
cocky · rank #17,321 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #17,321
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH clinically
Nearest frequency peer: clinically (-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 “cocky”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- chloride
chloride
82,683 corpus weight
- classify
classify
82,682 corpus weight
- clinically
clinically
82,681 corpus weight
- cocky
cocky
82,680 corpus weight
- coefficient
coefficient
82,679 corpus weight
- coined
coined
82,678 corpus weight
What this shows “cocky” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cocky |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkɒk.i/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #17,321 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cocky”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around cocky (IPA /ˈkɒk.i/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #17,321 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Overly confident; arrogant and boastful.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for cocky, with forms such as "ccocky", "ccoky", and "coccky". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "coy", "copy", "cook", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cock (“male domestic chicken”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of ‘having the quality of’). The correct English form is cocky, spelled C-O-C-K-Y.
Definition
- 1Overly confident; arrogant and boastful.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cocky appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And now I think I may be cocky, / Since fortune has ſmurtl'd on me, / I'm Jenny, an' ye ſhall be Jockie, / 'Tis right we together ſud be; [...]
Pretty girls, indeed, can with impunity, menace their lovers with quitting them; but cocky Waithman, will, if he try it often, soon find, that he cannot play such tricks without having to repent of it.
Etymology
From cock (“male domestic chicken”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of ‘having the quality of’).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccocky
- ccoky
- coccky
- cockky
- cockyy
- cocyk
- cokcy
- occky
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cocky - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "cocky"?
What does "cocky" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cocky"?
How do you pronounce "cocky"?
What is the origin of the word "cocky"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cocky", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).