darkie

noun

"darkie" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“darkie” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of darkey.

Corpus desk

Index EN-darkie · darkie · English

darkie · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for darkie
PropertyValue
Headworddarkie
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “darkie” in English

darkiesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

darkie is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alternative spelling of darkey.".

No misspelling variants are generated for darkie in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dark + -ie. The correct English form is darkie, spelled D-A-R-K-I-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of darkey.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. In an intolerable sweetness, a contentment so deep that he was wistfully discontented, he saw magnolias by moonlight and heard plantation darkies crooning to the banjo.
  2. My Dad has taught me that in England some foolish man may call me sambo, darkie, boot or munt or nigger, even.

Etymology

From dark + -ie.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "darkie"?
"darkie" is spelled D-A-R-K-I-E.
What does "darkie" mean?
As a noun, "darkie" means: Alternative spelling of darkey.
What is the origin of the word "darkie"?
From dark + -ie. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list