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PlainSpell

honey

hon·ey/ˈhʌni/noun, adjective, verb

honey is spelled H-O-N-E-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables (hon·ey). It appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,814th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Honey, the name). As a noun, honey means “A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of honey is honeys; Wiktionary also lists honies (archaic).

How many letters and syllables are in honey?

Letters5: H-O-N-E-Y
Syllables2: hon·ey
In writing23 times per million words; the 3,814th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is honey?

Honey appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,814th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Honey, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce honey?

  • US /ˈhʌni/
  • /ˈhʊni/
  • /ˈhʌne/

Honey has 2 syllables, split hon·ey in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-honey.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-honey.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with honey

Also written: henny.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with honey?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as honey from its last stressed vowel (/ʌni/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of honey

  • honeys plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • hunney
  • hunny
  • honeyer comparative
  • honier comparative
  • honeyest superlative
  • honiest superlative
  • honeying participle, present
  • honeyed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does honey mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans.

    The honey in the pot should last for years.

  2. 2

    A variety of this substance.

  3. 3

    rareNectar.

  4. 4

    Something sweet or desirable.

  5. 5

    A term of affection.

    Honey, would you take out the trash?

  6. 6

    informalA woman, especially an attractive one.

    Man, there are some fine honeys here tonight!

  7. 7

    A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow color, like that of most types of (the sweet substance) honey.

  8. 8

    vulgarPrecum; pre-ejaculate.

adjective

  1. 1

    Involving or resembling honey.

  2. 2

    Of a pale yellow to brownish-yellow color, like most types of honey.

  3. 3

    Honey-sweet.

verb

  1. 1

    To sweeten; to make agreeable.

  2. 2

    To add honey to.

  3. 3

    To be gentle, agreeable, or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments.

  4. 4

    To be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to fawn.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Honey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmiel (sweet substance produced by bees)
GermanHonig (sweet substance produced by bees)
Portuguesemel (sweet substance produced by bees), querida, querido (term of affection – see also darling)
Spanishmiel (sweet substance produced by bees), cariño, tesoro, cari, cielo (term of affection – see also darling), dulzura (something sweet or desirable)

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 honey come from?

From Middle English hony, honi, from Old English huniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hunag, from Proto-Germanic *hunagą (compare Saterland Frisian Hunich, West Frisian hunich, German Low German Honnig, German Honig), from earlier *hunangą (compare North Frisian honning, hönning, West Frisian huning, Dutch honing, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk honning, Swedish honung, Faroese hunangur, Icelandic hunang), from Proto-Indo-European *kn̥h₂onk-o-s, from *kn̥h₂ónks.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after honey