# holey

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈhəʊl.li/ · frequency rank #81,408

## Definitions
1. Having, or being full of, holes.

## Etymology
From Middle English holy, holi, holly, holli (“holey, spongy, hollow”); equivalent to hole + -y. The e was inserted in Modern English to distinguish the word from holy (“hallowed, sacred”).

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