looky

verb

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

The verdict

“looky” is an uncommon English word, ranked #72,502 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#72,502
frequency rank, English
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Look.

Key facts for looky
PropertyValue
Headwordlooky
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters5
Frequency rank#72,502
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “looky” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). looky lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for looky is 5 letters long, classified as a verb. Corpus data places it at rank #72,502 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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.

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.

Using “looky”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-O-O-K-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list