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PlainSpell

curly

/ˈkɝli/adjective, noun

curly is spelled C-U-R-L-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, curly means “Having curls” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in curly?

Letters5: C-U-R-L-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.0 times per million words; the 12,940th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is curly?

Curly appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th 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 curly?

  • UK /ˈkɜːli/
  • US /ˈkɝli/
  • /ˈkøːli/

Curly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-curly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with curly?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as curly from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹli/):

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 curly

  • curlier comparative
  • curliest superlative
  • curlies plural

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

What does curly mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    Having curls.

  2. 2

    Curling in a direction, as opposed to straight (quotation marks or apostrophes)

  3. 3

    AustraliaComplicated and difficult; knotty.

noun

  1. 1

    a person or animal with curly hair.

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

Curly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbouclé, frisé (having curls), courbe, courbé ((typography) curling in a direction, as opposed…)
Germanlockig (having curls), Lockenkopf, Wuschelkopf (a person or animal with curly hair)
Portuguesecacheado (having curls), encaracolado (a person or animal with curly hair)
Spanishrizado, chino, crespo (having curls)

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 curly come from?

From curl + -y.

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

What to look up after curly