cocky
/ˈkɒk.i/
"cocky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cocky” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,321 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #17,321
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Overly confident; arrogant and boastful.
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) |
Where “cocky” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cocky is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɒk.i/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,321 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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.
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?
Using “cocky”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-C-K-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɒk.i/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “coy” - see the side-by-side comparison. cocky vs coy
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.