drafty

/ˈdɹɑːfti/

//ˈdɹɑːfti// adj

"drafty" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“drafty” is uncommon English (frequency #81,281 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,281
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Characterized by gusts of wind; windy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-drafty · drafty · English

drafty · rank #81,281 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,281
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH drabble

Nearest frequency peer: drabble (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “drafty”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “drafty” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for drafty
PropertyValue
Headworddrafty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈdɹɑːfti/
Letters6
Frequency rank#81,281
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “drafty” in English

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “drabble” (#81,280), “dressmaking” (#81,283), “donat” (#81,278). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “drafty” is #81,281. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

drafty is uncommon English at frequency #81,281 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈdɹɑːfti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for drafty, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier draughty, equivalent to draft + -y. The correct English form is drafty, spelled D-R-A-F-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Characterized by gusts of wind; windy.
  2. 2
    Not properly sealed against drafts (draughts).

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how drafty appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It's really drafty (draughty) in here.

Etymology

From earlier draughty, equivalent to draft + -y.

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); 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 "drafty"?
"drafty" is spelled D-R-A-F-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɹɑːfti/.
What does "drafty" mean?
As an adjective, "drafty" means: Characterized by gusts of wind; windy.
How do you pronounce "drafty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "drafty" is /ˈdɹɑːfti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "drafty"?
From earlier draughty, equivalent to draft + -y. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "drafty", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list