# horny

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈhɔːni/ · frequency rank #9,763

## Definitions
1. Hard or bony, like an animal's horn.
2. Having the hard consistency and pale colour of an animal's horn.
3. Having horns.

## Etymology
From Middle English horny, equivalent to horn + -y. Compare German hornig. Compare also Dutch hoornachtig, Swedish hornaktig, Old English hyrniġ (“angular”). Piecewise doublet of corny.

## Easily confused with
- **hoy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-hoy)
- **horse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-horse)
- **hurry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-hurry)
- **hound** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-hound)
- **howdy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-howdy)
- **Horus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-horus)
- **hotly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-hotly)
- **horst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-horst)
- **hourly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horny-vs-hourly)
- **hon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hon-vs-horny)
- **hor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hor-vs-horny)
- **holy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holy-vs-horny)
- **hong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hong-vs-horny)
- **horn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horn-vs-horny)
- **hone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hone-vs-horny)
- **hoon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hoon-vs-horny)
- **honk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honk-vs-horny)
- **hora** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hora-vs-horny)
- **harry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harry-vs-horny)
- **honey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/honey-vs-horny)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hhorny`, `honry`, `hornny`, `hornyy`, `horrny`, `horyn`, `hrony`, `ohrny`

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