hoary
/hɔɹ.i/adjective
hoary is spelled H-O-A-R-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, hoary means “White, whitish, or greyish-white” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hoary?
| Letters | 5: H-O-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 67,454th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hoary?
Hoary appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th 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 hoary?
- UK /hɔː.ɹi/
- US /hɔɹ.i/
Hoary has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hoary.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with hoary
Sounds like: Horae (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of hoary
- hoarier comparative
- hoariest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hoary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
White, whitish, or greyish-white.
- 2
White or grey with age.
The old man bowed his hoary head in acquiescence.
- 3
Of a pale silvery grey.
- 4
Covered with short, dense, greyish white hairs.
- 5
Old or old-fashioned; trite.
- 6
obsoleteRemote in time past.
- 7
obsoleteMoldy; mossy; musty.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hoary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense white or gray with age:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hoary come from?
Possibly from Middle English *hori (suggested by horilocket (“hoary-locked, having hoary locks or curls”)), equivalent to hoar + -y. Alternatively, Middle English horilocket may represent Middle English hor (“hoar, hoary”) + ilocket (“locked”) rather than hori (“hoary”) + locket (“locked”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).