lory

/ˈlɒɹi/

//ˈlɒɹi// noun

"lory" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lory” is uncommon English (frequency #91,755 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,755
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various small, brightly coloured parrots native to Australasia. They are usually classified in the subfamily Loriinae.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lory · lory · English

lory · rank #91,755 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,755
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH lording

Nearest frequency peer: lording (-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 “lory”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lory
PropertyValue
Headwordlory
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈlɒɹi/
Letters4
Frequency rank#91,755
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lory” 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).loryfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “lording” (#91,754), “looter” (#91,753), “Lobb” (#91,750). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “lory” is #91,755. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lory is uncommon English at frequency #91,755 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlɒɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of various small, brightly coloured parrots native to Australasia. They are usually classified in the subfamily Loriinae.".

lory doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Malay luri, name of kind of parrot, said to be a dialectal variant of Malay nuri. Doublet of lourie. Unrelated to Spanish loro. The correct English form is lory, spelled L-O-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various small, brightly coloured parrots native to Australasia. They are usually classified in the subfamily Loriinae.

Etymology

From Malay luri, name of kind of parrot, said to be a dialectal variant of Malay nuri. Doublet of lourie. Unrelated to Spanish loro.

This word in other languages

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 "lory"?
"lory" is spelled L-O-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈlɒɹi/.
What does "lory" mean?
As a noun, "lory" means: Any of various small, brightly coloured parrots native to Australasia. They are usually classified in the subfamily Loriinae.
How do you pronounce "lory"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lory" is /ˈlɒɹi/. 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 "lory"?
From Malay luri, name of kind of parrot, said to be a dialectal variant of Malay nuri. Doublet of lourie. Unrelated to Spanish loro. 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 "lory", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list