filly

Name: filly, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈfɪli/

//ˈfɪli// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“filly” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,832. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,832
frequency rank, English: 2,507
“F” headwords: 6
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A young female horse.

Corpus desk

Index EN-filly · filly · English

filly · rank #23,832 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-MID #23,832
LEN-MID 5 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-MID 6 variants
BOOK-MID 2,507
PHOTO-FINISH Fenton

Nearest frequency peer: Fenton (-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.

exalted

76,173
exchequer

76,172
Fenton

76,170
filly

76,169
footy

76,167
formality

76,166

What this shows “filly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

filly vs fly

60% similar

filly vs full

60% similar

filly vs film

60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for filly
Property	Value
Headword	filly
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈfɪli/
Letters	5
Frequency rank	#23,832
Misspellings tracked	6
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “filly”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).fillylands here:

#23,832

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Fenton” (#23,831), “footy” (#23,834), “exchequer” (#23,829). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “filly” is #23,832. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around filly (IPA /ˈfɪli/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,832 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for filly, with forms such as "ffilly", "fillyy", and "fily". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fly", "full", "film", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old Norse fylja (whence Danish føl), related to foal. Cognate with Dutch veulen, German Fohlen. The correct English form is filly, spelled F-I-L-L-Y.

Definition

1
A young female horse.
2
A young, attractive woman.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

Hey, Homer, get a load of the gams on that filly!
Betty Lou began to think of Bobby Jo. That feisty filly still brought up sexual connotations, even though the two had been going together for almost three weeks now.

Etymology

From Old Norse fylja (whence Danish føl), related to foal. Cognate with Dutch veulen, German Fohlen.

This word in other languages

pouliche(Français)Stutenfohlen(Deutsch)potranca(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

ffilly
fillyy
fily
filyl
flily
iflly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of filly - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Edit distance from "filly"

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 "filly"?

"filly" is spelled F-I-L-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɪli/.

What does "filly" mean?

As a noun, "filly" means: A young female horse.

What words are commonly confused with "filly"?

"filly" is commonly confused with "fly", "full", "film". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "filly"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "filly" is /ˈfɪli/. 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 "filly"?

From Old Norse fylja (whence Danish føl), related to foal. Cognate with Dutch veulen, German Fohlen. 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 "filly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

footy#23,834 fouls#23,837 gents#23,842 grunt#23,850

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

GCSE6 variants gent6 variants Dons6 variants LAPD6 variants