# curly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈkɝli/ · frequency rank #12,953

## Definitions
1. Having curls.
2. Curling in a direction, as opposed to straight (quotation marks or apostrophes)
3. Complicated and difficult; knotty.

## Etymology
From curl + -y.

## Easily confused with
- **curt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curly-vs-curt)
- **curve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curly-vs-curve)
- **curse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curly-vs-curse)
- **curry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curly-vs-curry)
- **curvy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curly-vs-curvy)
- **cushy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curly-vs-cushy)
- **cry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cry-vs-curly)
- **cur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cur-vs-curly)
- **cure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cure-vs-curly)
- **carl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/carl-vs-curly)
- **cult** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cult-vs-curly)
- **curb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curb-vs-curly)
- **Cory** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cory-vs-curly)
- **curl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curl-vs-curly)
- **Cary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cary-vs-curly)
- **Ctrl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ctrl-vs-curly)
- **cray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cray-vs-curly)
- **cull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cull-vs-curly)
- **curd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curd-vs-curly)
- **cuny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuny-vs-curly)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccurly`, `cruly`, `culry`, `curlly`, `curlyy`, `currly`, `curyl`, `ucrly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/curly