dudgeon

/ˈdʌd͡ʒən/

//ˈdʌd͡ʒən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"dudgeon" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dudgeon” is uncommon English (frequency #71,469 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,469
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A feeling of anger or resentment, especially haughty indignation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dudgeon · dudgeon · English

dudgeon · rank #71,469 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,469
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH dunder

Nearest frequency peer: dunder (+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 “dudgeon”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dudgeon
PropertyValue
Headworddudgeon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdʌd͡ʒən/
Letters7
Frequency rank#71,469
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dudgeon” 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).dudgeonfalls 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: “dunder” (#71,470), “Draghi” (#71,466), “Douma” (#71,465). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dudgeon” is #71,469. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dudgeon is uncommon English at frequency #71,469 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdʌd͡ʒən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A feeling of anger or resentment, especially haughty indignation.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for dudgeon, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Uncertain: * Perhaps the same as Etymology 2, below * Perhaps from Welsh dygen (“anger, grudge”) (from dy- + cwyn (“complaint”)), though the OED rejects this. * Possibly from dudgen (“trash, something worthless”). * Possibly borrowed from Italian aduggiare … The correct English form is dudgeon, spelled D-U-D-G-E-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A feeling of anger or resentment, especially haughty indignation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. All gentle folks who owe a grudge / To any living thing, / Open your ears and stay your trudge / Whilst I in dudgeon sing.
  2. To crown his discontent, his approach was utterly unnoticed by that capricious damsel. He dashed away in dudgeon from the house at an early hour, certainly less regretted by the maid than by the master of the inn.

Etymology

Uncertain: * Perhaps the same as Etymology 2, below * Perhaps from Welsh dygen (“anger, grudge”) (from dy- + cwyn (“complaint”)), though the OED rejects this. * Possibly from dudgen (“trash, something worthless”). * Possibly borrowed from Italian aduggiare (“to overshadow”), similar to the semantic development of umbrage.

This word in other languages

Groll(Deutsch)

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 "dudgeon"?
"dudgeon" is spelled D-U-D-G-E-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdʌd͡ʒən/.
What does "dudgeon" mean?
As a noun, "dudgeon" means: A feeling of anger or resentment, especially haughty indignation.
How do you pronounce "dudgeon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dudgeon" is /ˈdʌd͡ʒən/. 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 "dudgeon"?
Uncertain: * Perhaps the same as Etymology 2, below * Perhaps from Welsh dygen (“anger, grudge”) (from dy- + cwyn (“complaint”)), though the OED rejects this. * Possibly from dudgen (“trash, something worthless”). * Possibly borrowed from Italian ... 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 "dudgeon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Duxbury#71,473dwarven#71,474earmark#71,475dinning#71,452

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list