holly

/ˈhɒli/

//ˈhɒli// noun

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

"holly" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“holly” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,555. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,555
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.

Corpus desk

Index EN-holly · holly · English

holly · rank #8,555 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,555
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH immense

Nearest frequency peer: immense (+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 “holly”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “holly” 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).

holly vs hoy
60% similar
holly vs holy
80% similar
holly vs hull
60% similar

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

Key facts for holly
PropertyValue
Headwordholly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɒli/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,555
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “holly”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hollylands 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 “immense” (#8,556), “headphones” (#8,553), “imports” (#8,557). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “holly” is #8,555. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around holly (IPA /ˈhɒli/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,555 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for holly, with forms such as "hholly", "hloly", and "hollyy". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hoy", "holy", "hull", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English holly, holi, holie, a shortened variation of holin, holyn (> English dialectal hollen, holm), from Old English holeġn, holen (“holly; prince, protector”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulis (“holly”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kelh… The correct English form is holly, spelled H-O-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
  2. 2
    The wood from this tree.
  3. 3
    Any of several not closely related plant species likened to Ilex because of their prickly, evergreen foliage and/or round, bright-red berries

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Have a tree or two the witches particularly like, such as the alder, larch, cypress and hemlock; then, to counteract any possible evil effects, there must be a holly, yew, hazel, elder, mountain ash or juniper.

Etymology

From Middle English holly, holi, holie, a shortened variation of holin, holyn (> English dialectal hollen, holm), from Old English holeġn, holen (“holly; prince, protector”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulis (“holly”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat, break”). Cognates Cognate with Scots holin, hollin, holyn (“holly”), Dutch hulst (“holly”), German Hulst (“holly”), French houx ("holly" < Germanic), Danish hylver (“holly”), Welsh celyn (“holly”), Russian ко́лос (kólos, “ear of wheat”), Albanian kalli (“straw, chaff”), Latin culmus (“stalk, stem”), Sanskrit कटम्ब (kaṭamba, “arrow”), Old Church Slavonic класъ (klasŭ, “ear of grain”).

This word in other languages

acebo(Español)houx(Français)Stechpalme(Deutsch)azevinho(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hholly
  • hloly
  • hollyy
  • holyl
  • ohlly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of holly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hholly1hloly2hollyy1holyl2ohlly2
Edit distance from "holly"

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 "holly"?
"holly" is spelled H-O-L-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɒli/.
What does "holly" mean?
As a noun, "holly" means: Any of various shrubs or (mostly) small trees, of the genus Ilex, either evergreen or deciduous, used as decoration especially at Christmas.
What words are commonly confused with "holly"?
"holly" is commonly confused with "hoy", "holy", "hull". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "holly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "holly" is /ˈhɒli/. 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 "holly"?
From Middle English holly, holi, holie, a shortened variation of holin, holyn (> English dialectal hollen, holm), from Old English holeġn, holen (“holly; prince, protector”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulis (“holly”), possibly from Proto-Indo-Euro... 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 "holly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

karma#8,563leaks#8,567fools#8,541masks#8,575

Similar misspelling depth

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

haul5 variantsNike5 variantsnode5 variantsabbey5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list