cooee

/ˈkuːʷiː/

//ˈkuːʷiː// noun

"cooee" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cooee” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A long, loud call used to attract attention when at a distance, mainly done in the Australian bush.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cooee · cooee · English

cooee · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for cooee
PropertyValue
Headwordcooee
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkuːʷiː/
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cooee” sits in English frequency

cooeesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cooee is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkuːʷiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for cooee in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Dharug guuu-wi, adopted into English by white settlers in Australia from 1790. The correct English form is cooee, spelled C-O-O-E-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A long, loud call used to attract attention when at a distance, mainly done in the Australian bush.
  2. 2
    A short distance; hailing distance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Then they heard in the distance the "coo-ee" of a white man, which was instantly answered by another "coo-ee".
  2. I call out, “Coo-ee” with long Coo and short ee like whip-bird call. Everybody in my mob know my cooee. Any one of my mob hear that, they give me cooee back. I listen. No cooee come back.

Etymology

Borrowed from Dharug guuu-wi, adopted into English by white settlers in Australia from 1790.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cooee"?
"cooee" is spelled C-O-O-E-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkuːʷiː/.
What does "cooee" mean?
As a noun, "cooee" means: A long, loud call used to attract attention when at a distance, mainly done in the Australian bush.
How do you pronounce "cooee"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cooee" is /ˈkuːʷiː/. 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 "cooee"?
Borrowed from Dharug guuu-wi, adopted into English by white settlers in Australia from 1790. 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.

What to do next

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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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list