googly
/ˈɡuɡli/noun, adjective
googly is spelled G-O-O-G-L-Y: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, googly means “A ball, bowled by a leg-break bowler, that spins from off to leg (to a right-handed batsman), unlike a normal leg-break delivery” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of googly is googlies.
How many letters and syllables are in googly?
| Letters | 6: G-O-O-G-L-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,230th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is googly?
Googly appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce googly?
- Australia /ˈɡʉːɡli/
- US /ˈɡuɡli/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-googly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of googly
- googlies plural
- googlier comparative
- googliest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does googly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A ball, bowled by a leg-break bowler, that spins from off to leg (to a right-handed batsman), unlike a normal leg-break delivery.
His weakness in batting is against googly.
adjective
- 1
Bulging.
- 2
Appearing to be amorous, flirtatious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does googly come from?
Unknown; perhaps derived from googie (“an egg, in reference to the unusual direction of bounce”). Though the delivery was perfected and made famous by English cricketer Bernard Bosanquet, circa 1900, the term is recorded earlier in Australian English (1896).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).