looky

verb

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

"looky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“looky” is uncommon English (frequency #72,502 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,502
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Look.

Corpus desk

Index EN-looky · looky · English

looky · rank #72,502 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,502
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Lowrey

Nearest frequency peer: Lowrey (+2 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 “looky”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for looky
PropertyValue
Headwordlooky
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters5
Frequency rank#72,502
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “looky” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).lookyfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Lowrey” (#72,504), “liveth” (#72,499), “Loz” (#72,505). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “looky” is #72,502. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

looky is uncommon English at frequency #72,502 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Look.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for looky, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: None of the various attested forms appear in the OED, in Victor & Dalzell’s Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, nor in Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. According to the RHD, 'looky' (also 'lookee') is an inter… The correct English form is looky, spelled L-O-O-K-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Look.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Lookee here, Tom, being rich ain't what it's cracked up to be.
  2. 1877, Burdette, Robert Jones. The Rise and Fall of the Mustache: And Other ‘Hawk-eyetems’. Burlington Publishing Co., 1877. p. 15. http://books.google.ca/books?id=Q6MEAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA15&dq=lookee&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JQfgUfjxD4akyQH174CgCw&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=lookee&f=false "… Cain would shout ‘Oh, lookee, lookee pa! what’s that?’"

Etymology

None of the various attested forms appear in the OED, in Victor & Dalzell’s Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, nor in Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. According to the RHD, 'looky' (also 'lookee') is an interjection attested from 1875–80 which is an alternative form of the imperative look ye! Similarly, the linguist Andrew L. Sihler indicates that ye, the now-archaic subjective form of the English 2nd pers. plural pronoun, “is fossilized in looky (here) …”.

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 "looky"?
"looky" is spelled L-O-O-K-Y.
What does "looky" mean?
As a verb, "looky" means: Look.
What is the origin of the word "looky"?
None of the various attested forms appear in the OED, in Victor & Dalzell’s Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, nor in Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. According to the RHD, 'looky' (also 'lookee') i... 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 "looky", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

liger#72,492Lysol#72,514manis#72,521Mapes#72,523

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list