corky

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

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

The verdict

“corky” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #48,156. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#48,156
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of wine, contaminated by a faulty or tainted cork.

Corpus desk

Index EN-corky · corky · English

corky · rank #48,156 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #48,156
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH corduroy

Nearest frequency peer: corduroy (-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 “corky”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “corky” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

corky vs cry
60% similar
corky vs coy
60% similar
corky vs corn
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for corky
PropertyValue
Headwordcorky
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters5
Frequency rank#48,156
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “corky”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).corkylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “corduroy” (#48,155), “Copacabana” (#48,153), “cookware” (#48,151). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “corky” is #48,156. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around corky, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #48,156 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for corky, with forms such as "ccorky", "cokry", and "corkky". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cry", "coy", "corn", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From cork (“stopper”) + -y. The correct English form is corky, spelled C-O-R-K-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of wine, contaminated by a faulty or tainted cork.
  2. 2
    Consisting of, or like, cork; dry; shrivelled.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. This wine smells a bit corky; get me another bottle.
  2. Bind fast his corky arms.

Etymology

From cork (“stopper”) + -y.

Synonyms

suberosesuberous

This word in other languages

bouchonné(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccorky
  • cokry
  • corkky
  • corkyy
  • corrky
  • coryk
  • croky
  • ocrky

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of corky - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccorky1cokry2corkky1corkyy1corrky1coryk2croky2ocrky2
Edit distance from "corky"

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 "corky"?
"corky" is spelled C-O-R-K-Y.
What does "corky" mean?
As an adjective, "corky" means: Of wine, contaminated by a faulty or tainted cork.
What words are commonly confused with "corky"?
"corky" is commonly confused with "cry", "coy", "corn". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "corky"?
From cork (“stopper”) + -y. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "corky", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Darla#48,173Cheri#48,137dinar#48,187cates#48,123

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

comming8 variantscrummy8 variantsDaniele8 variantsdemean8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list