doohickey
/ˈduhɪki/
"doohickey" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“doohickey” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)
Corpus desk
Index EN-doohickey · doohickey · English
doohickey · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | doohickey |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈduhɪki/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “doohickey” in English
Rare enough to double-check
doohickey is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈduhɪki/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)".
Zero misspellings are on record for doohickey in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey. The correct English form is doohickey, spelled D-O-O-H-I-C-K-E-Y.
Definition
- 1A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how doohickey appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
What does this doohickey do?
Customers will ask for "gizmos" and "what-cha-ma-call-its" and "doohickeys," and make crude drawings on paper bags of what it is they think they need.
Etymology
First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey.
This word in other languages
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.