foolery

/ˈfuːləɹi/

//ˈfuːləɹi// noun

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

The verdict

“foolery” is uncommon English (frequency #99,273 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,273
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Foolish behaviour or speech.

Corpus desk

Index EN-foolery · foolery · English

foolery · rank #99,273 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,273
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH flyway

Nearest frequency peer: flyway (-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 “foolery”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for foolery
PropertyValue
Headwordfoolery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfuːləɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#99,273
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “foolery” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).fooleryfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “flyway” (#99,272), “fornicate” (#99,275), “fleshly” (#99,268). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “foolery” is #99,273. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

foolery is uncommon English at frequency #99,273 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfuːləɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Foolish behaviour or speech.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for foolery, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English foleri, ffollery, equivalent to fool + -ery. The correct English form is foolery, spelled F-O-O-L-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Foolish behaviour or speech.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. So from that tyme forwarde I began to ſmell the word of god, and forſoke the ſchole doctors and ſuch foolries.
  2. Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun, it shines every where.

Etymology

From Middle English foleri, ffollery, equivalent to fool + -ery.

Synonyms

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 "foolery"?
"foolery" is spelled F-O-O-L-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfuːləɹi/.
What does "foolery" mean?
As a noun, "foolery" means: Foolish behaviour or speech.
How do you pronounce "foolery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "foolery" is /ˈfuːləɹi/. 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 "foolery"?
From Middle English foleri, ffollery, equivalent to fool + -ery. 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 "foolery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list