hooley

/ˈhuːli/

//ˈhuːli// noun

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

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

The verdict

“hooley” is uncommon English (frequency #79,596 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#79,596
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A noisy celebration or party; also, an evening of traditional music and dance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hooley · hooley · English

hooley · rank #79,596 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #79,596
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hooping

Nearest frequency peer: hooping (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “hooley”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “hooley” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hooley
PropertyValue
Headwordhooley
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhuːli/
Letters6
Frequency rank#79,596
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hooley” in English

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).hooleyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “hooping” (#79,597), “Hopkinton” (#79,598), “homeware” (#79,593). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hooley” is #79,596. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hooley is uncommon English at frequency #79,596 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈhuːli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

hooley doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: The etymology of sense 1 (“noisy celebration or party”) is unknown. Sense 2 (“strong wind”) is possibly from one of the following: * Borrowed from Orkney Scots hool(an) (“strong wind”) + English -ie (diminutive suffix). Hoolan is derived from Norn (unattest… The correct English form is hooley, spelled H-O-O-L-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A noisy celebration or party; also, an evening of traditional music and dance.
  2. 2
    Chiefly in the form to blow a hooley: a strong wind; a gale.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. At a family gathering, a wake or a Christmas hooley, other children would step forward to sing a rhyme or dance a hornpipe.
  2. The celebratory ceilidh at the Culag Hotel in Lochinver is still talked about. 'Oh, it was a fine evening,' one discreet woman said to me. 'A right damn wild hoolie!' a well-oiled friend enthused.

Etymology

The etymology of sense 1 (“noisy celebration or party”) is unknown. Sense 2 (“strong wind”) is possibly from one of the following: * Borrowed from Orkney Scots hool(an) (“strong wind”) + English -ie (diminutive suffix). Hoolan is derived from Norn (unattested), from Old Norse ýlun (“howling, wailing”), from ýla (“to howl”) (ultimately onomatopoeic) + -un (suffix forming nouns). * From sense 1.

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 "hooley"?
"hooley" is spelled H-O-O-L-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhuːli/.
What does "hooley" mean?
As a noun, "hooley" means: A noisy celebration or party; also, an evening of traditional music and dance.
How do you pronounce "hooley"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hooley" is /ˈhuːli/. 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 "hooley"?
The etymology of sense 1 (“noisy celebration or party”) is unknown. Sense 2 (“strong wind”) is possibly from one of the following: * Borrowed from Orkney Scots hool(an) (“strong wind”) + English -ie (diminutive suffix). Hoolan is derived from Norn... 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 "hooley", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Howley#79,603impish#79,621Haruko#79,569Harari#79,565

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list