downy
/ˈdaʊni/
"downy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“downy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #47,024 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #47,024
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having down, covered with a soft fuzzy coating as of small feathers or hair.
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 | downy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdaʊni/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #47,024 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “downy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for downy is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdaʊni/. Corpus data places it at rank #47,024 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.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for downy, with forms such as "ddowny", "donwy", and "downny". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "drown", "dowry", "drowns", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From down + -y. The correct English form is downy, spelled D-O-W-N-Y.
Definition
- 1Having down, covered with a soft fuzzy coating as of small feathers or hair.
- 2Sharp-witted, perceptive.
- 3Low-spirited; down in the mouth.
Etymology
From down + -y.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddowny,donwy,downny,downyy,dowwny,dowyn,dwony,odwny
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of downy - 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 “downy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-W-N-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdaʊni/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “drown” - see the side-by-side comparison. downy vs drown
- 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.