deary

/ˈdɪəɹi/

//ˈdɪəɹi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"deary" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“deary” is uncommon English (frequency #80,367 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#80,367
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A dear; a darling.

Corpus desk

Index EN-deary · deary · English

deary · rank #80,367 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #80,367
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH deadbolt

Nearest frequency peer: deadbolt (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “deary”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “deary” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for deary
PropertyValue
Headworddeary
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɪəɹi/
Letters5
Frequency rank#80,367
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “deary” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).dearyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “deadbolt” (#80,366), “Deboer” (#80,368), “Debora” (#80,369). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “deary” is #80,367. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

deary is uncommon English at frequency #80,367 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɪəɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for deary in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dear + -y. The correct English form is deary, spelled D-E-A-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A dear; a darling.
  2. 2
    A term of address for a female.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Listen, deary: I'd appreciate your not talking about my son like that.

Etymology

From dear + -y.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "deary"?
"deary" is spelled D-E-A-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɪəɹi/.
What does "deary" mean?
As a noun, "deary" means: A dear; a darling.
How do you pronounce "deary"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "deary" is /ˈdɪəɹi/. 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 "deary"?
From dear + -y. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "deary", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conny#80,343Dupuy#80,406dural#80,407chota#80,318

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list