jiminy

/ˈd͡ʒɪməni/

//ˈd͡ʒɪməni// intj

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

The verdict

“jiminy” is uncommon English (frequency #82,430 among 796 “J” headwords), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,430
frequency rank, English
796
“J” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An expression of mild surprise or annoyance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-jiminy · jiminy · English

jiminy · rank #82,430 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,430
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 796
  • PHOTO-FINISH Jobcentre

Nearest frequency peer: Jobcentre (+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 “jiminy”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for jiminy
PropertyValue
Headwordjiminy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechInterjection
IPA/ˈd͡ʒɪməni/
Letters6
Frequency rank#82,430
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “jiminy” 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).jiminyfalls 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: “Jobcentre” (#82,431), “jockstrap” (#82,432), “Joppa” (#82,433). Among 796 “J” headwords, “jiminy” is #82,430. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

jiminy is uncommon English at frequency #82,430 among 796 “J” headwords, classed as aninterjection, transcribed /ˈd͡ʒɪməni/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An expression of mild surprise or annoyance.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for jiminy, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: An alteration of earlier Gemini (“an expression of mild surprise or annoyance”); see there for more. The correct English form is jiminy, spelled J-I-M-I-N-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    An expression of mild surprise or annoyance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He sat up with a jerk. "Holy Jiminy! How did you figure all that out?"
  2. "Jimminy!" I thought. "Now I can do my Christmas shopping just like anybody." I dashed out along the town's main street to look at the glowing store windows and ponder what to buy.

Etymology

An alteration of earlier Gemini (“an expression of mild surprise or annoyance”); see there for more.

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 "jiminy"?
"jiminy" is spelled J-I-M-I-N-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈd͡ʒɪməni/.
What does "jiminy" mean?
As an interjection, "jiminy" means: An expression of mild surprise or annoyance.
How do you pronounce "jiminy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "jiminy" is /ˈd͡ʒɪməni/. 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 "jiminy"?
An alteration of earlier Gemini (“an expression of mild surprise or annoyance”); see there for more. 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 "jiminy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list