holy moley
"holy-moley" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“holy moley” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of wow, an expression of surprise.
Corpus desk
Index EN-holy-moley · holy moley · English
holy moley · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "H" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | holy moley |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “holy moley” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
holy moley is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Synonym of wow, an expression of surprise.".
holy moley doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Originally a euphemism for Holy Mary, Molly being a nickname for Mary. Compare holy Moses. The correct English form is holy moley, spelled H-O-L-Y- -M-O-L-E-Y.
Definition
- 1Synonym of wow, an expression of surprise.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how holy moley appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"Whew !" he whistled, softly; "that's curious. Same name as the lady at our place. Suppose he should be her husband. Holy moley, what a game. I've made a discovery.
Etymology
Originally a euphemism for Holy Mary, Molly being a nickname for Mary. Compare holy Moses.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.