doughboy

noun

"doughboy" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“doughboy” is an uncommon English word, ranked #75,815 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#75,815
frequency rank, English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An American infantryman, especially one from World War I.

Key facts for doughboy
PropertyValue
Headworddoughboy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#75,815
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “doughboy” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for doughboy is 8 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #75,815 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for doughboy, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dough + boy; its use to refer to an infantryman is unknown, but dates from 1847, during the Mexican–American War. The correct English form is doughboy, spelled D-O-U-G-H-B-O-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    An American infantryman, especially one from World War I.
  2. 2
    A kind of flour dumpling.
  3. 3
    Frybread.

Etymology

From dough + boy; its use to refer to an infantryman is unknown, but dates from 1847, during the Mexican–American War.

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 "doughboy"?
"doughboy" is spelled D-O-U-G-H-B-O-Y.
What does "doughboy" mean?
As a noun, "doughboy" means: An American infantryman, especially one from World War I.
What is the origin of the word "doughboy"?
From dough + boy; its use to refer to an infantryman is unknown, but dates from 1847, during the Mexican–American War. 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.

Using “doughboy”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-O-U-G-H-B-O-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list