dobby
"dobby" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dobby” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #45,337 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #45,337
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A device in some looms that allows the weaving of small geometric patterns.
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 | dobby |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #45,337 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dobby” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dobby is 5 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #45,337 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for dobby, with forms such as "dboby", "ddobby", and "dobbyy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "dory", "doubt", "dolly", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Dobby. The correct English form is dobby, spelled D-O-B-B-Y.
Definition
- 1A device in some looms that allows the weaving of small geometric patterns.
- 2The patterns so woven, or the fabric containing the patterns.
- 3An evil or mischievous fairy or ghost sometimes said to haunt a building or household.
- 4A dotard.
- 5The children's game of tag.
Etymology
From Dobby.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: dboby,ddobby,dobbyy,doby,dobyb,odbby
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dobby - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “dobby”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-B-B-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “dory” - see the side-by-side comparison. dobby vs dory
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.