hockey

/ˈhɒ.ki/

//ˈhɒ.ki// noun

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

"hockey" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hockey” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,497. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,497
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of a family of sports in which hockey sticks are used to move a ball or puck into a goal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hockey · hockey · English

hockey · rank #3,497 · 9 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,497
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH handed

Nearest frequency peer: handed (-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 “hockey”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “hockey” 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).

hockey vs hoke
67% similar
hockey vs honey
67% similar
hockey vs honky
67% similar

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

Key facts for hockey
PropertyValue
Headwordhockey
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɒ.ki/
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,497
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “hockey”

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).hockeylands 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 “handed” (#3,496), “Houston” (#3,498), “guests” (#3,495). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hockey” is #3,497. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around hockey (IPA /ˈhɒ.ki/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,497 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for hockey, with forms such as "hcokey", "hhockey", and "hocckey". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "hoke", "honey", "honky", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 16th century, of unknown origin. Possibly related to hook due to the curvature of the stick, akin to hock (“hook”) + -ey, or from Middle French hoquet (“shepherd's staff, crook”), which resembles a hockey stick, via a diminutive form of Old French hoc from … The correct English form is hockey, spelled H-O-C-K-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of a family of sports in which hockey sticks are used to move a ball or puck into a goal.
  2. 2
    Field hockey, a team sport played on a pitch on solid ground where players have to hit a ball into a net using a hockey stick.
  3. 3
    Ice hockey, a game on ice in which two teams of six players skate and try to score by shooting a puck into the opposing team's net, using their sticks.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He helped his team beat the opponent at hockey 11-9 in a high-scoring match.
  2. US stadiums are packed in the winter to see ice hockey.

Etymology

16th century, of unknown origin. Possibly related to hook due to the curvature of the stick, akin to hock (“hook”) + -ey, or from Middle French hoquet (“shepherd's staff, crook”), which resembles a hockey stick, via a diminutive form of Old French hoc from Middle Dutch hoec (“hook”), a cognate of Old English hōc.

Synonyms

ice hockeyfield hockeyshinnyshinny hockey

This word in other languages

hockey sur gazon(Français)Hockey(Deutsch)hóquei(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hcokey
  • hhockey
  • hocckey
  • hoceky
  • hockeyy
  • hockkey
  • hockye
  • hokcey
  • ohckey

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hockey - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hcokey2hhockey1hocckey1hoceky2hockeyy1hockkey1hockye2hokcey2
Edit distance from "hockey"

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 "hockey"?
"hockey" is spelled H-O-C-K-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɒ.ki/.
What does "hockey" mean?
As a noun, "hockey" means: Any of a family of sports in which hockey sticks are used to move a ball or puck into a goal.
What words are commonly confused with "hockey"?
"hockey" is commonly confused with "hoke", "honey", "honky". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hockey"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hockey" is /ˈhɒ.ki/. 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 "hockey"?
16th century, of unknown origin. Possibly related to hook due to the curvature of the stick, akin to hock (“hook”) + -ey, or from Middle French hoquet (“shepherd's staff, crook”), which resembles a hockey stick, via a diminutive form of Old French... 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 "hockey", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

handed#3,496guests#3,495flower#3,493judges#3,504

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

morgan9 variantsMoscow9 variantsdressed9 variantsprayer9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list