gooey

/ˈɡuːi/

//ˈɡuːi// adj

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

"gooey" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gooey” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,508. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,508
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having the consistency of goo: soft or viscous, and sticky.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gooey · gooey · English

gooey · rank #34,508 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,508
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH GMP

Nearest frequency peer: GMP (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “gooey”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

gooey vs grey
60% similar
gooey vs gore
60% similar
gooey vs goon
60% similar

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

Key facts for gooey
PropertyValue
Headwordgooey
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈɡuːi/
Letters5
Frequency rank#34,508
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “gooey”

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).gooeylands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “GMP” (#34,507), “Gottlieb” (#34,509), “Gleason” (#34,506). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gooey” is #34,508. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around gooey (IPA /ˈɡuːi/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #34,508 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for gooey, with forms such as "ggooey", "goeoy", and "goey". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "grey", "gore", "goon", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree English burgoo? Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue? English goo Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Prot… The correct English form is gooey, spelled G-O-O-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having the consistency of goo: soft or viscous, and sticky.
  2. 2
    Emotional or sentimental, especially to an excessive extent; mushy, soppy.
  3. 3
    Distasteful, unpleasant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. gooey liquid covered the floor
  2. The cookies, soft and gooey, proved a smash hit at the party.

Etymology

Etymology tree English burgoo? Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue? English goo Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -ey English gooey The adjective is derived from goo + -ey (a variant of -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’)). The noun is derived from the adjective.

This word in other languages

baboso(Español)gluant(Français)klebrig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggooey
  • goeoy
  • goey
  • gooeyy
  • gooye
  • ogoey

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gooey - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ggooey1goeoy2goey1gooeyy1gooye2ogoey2
Edit distance from "gooey"

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 "gooey"?
"gooey" is spelled G-O-O-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡuːi/.
What does "gooey" mean?
As an adjective, "gooey" means: Having the consistency of goo: soft or viscous, and sticky.
What words are commonly confused with "gooey"?
"gooey" is commonly confused with "grey", "gore", "goon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gooey"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gooey" is /ˈɡuːi/. 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 "gooey"?
Etymology tree English burgoo? Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue? English goo Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic ... 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 "gooey", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

halts#34,512Ghent#34,501hearn#34,519garda#34,496

Similar misspelling depth

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

holm6 variantsFarrah6 variantsDugan6 variantsKlux6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list