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daddy

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "daddy", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "daddy" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "daddy" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

daddy is aEnglishnoun. It means: Father. Pronounced /ˈdæd.i/. It ranks #3,870 in English word frequency. Often confused with day and DDD.

Key facts for daddy
PropertyValue
Headworddaddy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdæd.i/
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,870
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of daddy in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for daddy is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdæd.i/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,870 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for daddy, with forms such as "adddy", "daddyy", and "dady". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "day", "DDD", "dads", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dad + -y (diminutive suffix). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is daddy, spelled D-A-D-D-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Father.
  2. 2
    A perfect example, a role model.
  3. 3
    A male lover.
  4. 4
    A sexually attractive man, particularly—but not exclusively—a father or an older man.
  5. 5
    An informal term of address for a man.
  6. 6
    A dominant male partner, often used as an address.
  7. 7
    A male juvenile delinquent in a reformatory who dominates the other inmates through threats and violence.
  8. 8
    A stage manager.
  9. 9
    The person who gives away the bride at a wedding, in the absence of her actual father.
  10. 10
    An accomplice selected to win the prize in a fraudulent raffle or lottery.
  11. 11
    The man in charge of a casual ward, generally an elderly pauper.

Etymology

From dad + -y (diminutive suffix).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: adddy,daddyy,dady,dadyd,ddaddy,ddady

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for daddy

Misspelling Variants of "daddy"

adddy5daddyy6dady4dadyd5ddaddy6ddady5
Misspelling Variants of "daddy"

Frequency rank: #3,870 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "daddy"?
"daddy" is spelled D-A-D-D-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdæd.i/.
What does "daddy" mean?
As a noun, "daddy" means: Father.
What words are commonly confused with "daddy"?
"daddy" is commonly confused with "day", "DDD", "dads". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "daddy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "daddy" is /ˈdæd.i/. 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 "daddy"?
From dad + -y (diminutive suffix). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.