# googly

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡʉːɡli/ · frequency rank #48,258

## Definitions
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.

## Etymology
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).

## Easily confused with
- **groggy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/googly-vs-groggy)
- **goofy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goofy-vs-googly)
- **godly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/godly-vs-googly)
- **goody** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goody-vs-googly)
- **gooey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gooey-vs-googly)
- **golly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/golly-vs-googly)
- **google** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/google-vs-googly)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ggoogly`, `gogly`, `gogoly`, `googgly`, `googlly`, `googlyy`, `googyl`, `goolgy`, `ogogly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/googly