Skip to main content
PlainSpell

cosy

cos·y/ˈkoʊzi/adjective, noun, verb

cosy is spelled C-O-S-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables (cos·y). It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “cosy vs cozy” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, cosy means “Affording comfort and warmth; snug; social and comfortable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in cosy?

Letters4: C-O-S-Y
Syllables2: cos·y
In writing2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is cosy?

Cosy appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cosy?

  • UK /ˈkəʊzi/
  • US /ˈkoʊzi/

Cosy has 2 syllables, split cos·y in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cozy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with cosy

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

cosy vs cozy590 G

Also written: cozy.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with cosy?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cosy from its last stressed vowel (/oʊzi/):

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 cosy

  • cosier comparative
  • cosiest superlative
  • cozy US
  • cosie
  • cosies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • cosying participle, present
  • cosied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cosy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    UKAffording comfort and warmth; snug; social and comfortable.

  2. 2

    UKWarm and comfortable.

    I feel very cosy here in my bed.

noun

  1. 1

    UKA padded or knit covering put on an item to keep it warm, especially a teapot or egg.

  2. 2

    UKA padded or knit covering for any item (often an electronic device such as a laptop computer).

  3. 3

    UKA work of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.

verb

  1. 1

    UKTo become snug and comfortable.

  2. 2

    UKTo become friendly with.

    He spent all day cosying up to the new boss, hoping for a plum assignment.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cosy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdouillet, douillette, peinard (affording comfort and warmth)
Germangemütlich, behaglich, wohlig (affording comfort and warmth)
Portugueseíntimo, confortável, aconchegante (affording comfort and warmth), abafador (a padded or knit covering put on a teapot)
Spanishacogedor, hogareño (affording comfort and warmth), cubierta tejida (a padded or knit covering put on a teapot)

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 cosy come from?

From Scots cosie, from Old Scots colsie, but ultimate derivation is unknown. Possibly of North Germanic origin, such as Norwegian kose seg (“to have a cozy time”), from Old Norse kose sig, from koselig, koslig, perhaps ultimately from Old High German kōsa; see modern German kosen (“to cuddle”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cosy