Dewey
/ˈduːi/
"dewey" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Dewey” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,212. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #16,212
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A surname from Old French.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dewey · Dewey · English
Dewey · rank #16,212 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #16,212
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH deprivation
Nearest frequency peer: deprivation (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Dewey”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- daft
daft
83,794 corpus weight
- Dani
Dani
83,793 corpus weight
- depended
depended
83,791 corpus weight
- deprivation
deprivation
83,790 corpus weight
- Dewey
Dewey
83,789 corpus weight
- diversified
diversified
83,785 corpus weight
What this shows “Dewey” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Dewey |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈduːi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #16,212 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Dewey”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around Dewey (IPA /ˈduːi/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #16,212 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 16 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Dewey, with forms such as "ddewey", "deewy", and "deweyy". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dey", "dewy", "dowry", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Possibly from a place name in Northern France, Douai. Welsh origin from Dewi (David) has also been suggested. The correct English form is Dewey, spelled D-E-W-E-Y.
Definition
- 1A surname from Old French.
- 2A male given name transferred from the surname, of 1890s American usage.
- 3A number of places in the United States:
- 4A number of places in the United States:
- 5A number of places in the United States:
- 6A number of places in the United States:
- 7A number of places in the United States:
- 8A number of places in the United States:
- 9A number of places in the United States:
- 10A number of places in the United States:
- 11A number of places in the United States:
- 12A number of places in the United States:
- 13A number of places in the United States:
- 14A number of places in the United States:
- 15A number of places in the United States:
- 16A number of places in the United States:
Etymology
Possibly from a place name in Northern France, Douai. Welsh origin from Dewi (David) has also been suggested.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddewey
- deewy
- deweyy
- dewwey
- dewye
- dweey
- edwey
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Dewey - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "Dewey"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Dewey", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).