fuddy-duddy
/ˈfʌdiˌdʌdi/
"fuddy-duddy" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fuddy-duddy” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An old-fashioned, persnickety or ineffective person.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fuddy-duddy · fuddy-duddy · English
fuddy-duddy · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fuddy-duddy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfʌdiˌdʌdi/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fuddy-duddy” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
fuddy-duddy is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfʌdiˌdʌdi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An old-fashioned, persnickety or ineffective person.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for fuddy-duddy, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. 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: Unknown. First attested in the US circa 1900. The correct English form is fuddy-duddy, spelled F-U-D-D-Y---D-U-D-D-Y.
Definition
- 1An old-fashioned, persnickety or ineffective person.
Etymology
Unknown. First attested in the US circa 1900.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.