lurgy
lur·gy/ˈlɜɹɡi/noun
lurgy is spelled L-U-R-G-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables (lur·gy). It appears about once in every 50 million words in written English, the 220,118th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lurgy means “A non-specific (often infectious) disease, especially one with symptoms similar to those of a cold or flu, which renders one unfit to attend social…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lurgy is lurgies.
How many letters and syllables are in lurgy?
| Letters | 5: L-U-R-G-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: lur·gy |
| In writing | about once in every 50 million words; the 220,118th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is lurgy?
Lurgy appears about once in every 50 million words in written English, the 220,118th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lurgy?
- UK /ˈlɜːɡi/
- US /ˈlɜɹɡi/
Lurgy has 2 syllables, split lur·gy in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-lurgy.wav, En-au-lurgy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lurgy
- lurgies plural
- lurgee
- lurgey
- lurgi
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lurgy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
IrelandarchaicslangIdleness or laziness regarded as a medical condition; also, depression, especially resulting from a hangover.
- 2
AustraliaIrelandUKslangA non-specific (often infectious) disease, especially one with symptoms similar to those of a cold or flu, which renders one unfit to attend social events, go to work, etc.
the dreaded lurgy
adjective
- 1
obsoleteslangIdle, lazy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does lurgy come from?
The noun is derived from fever-lurgy, possibly influenced by or related to lurk (“to hang out or wait”). Fever-lurgy is possibly a variant of fever lurden (“idleness regarded as a medical condition”), from fever + lurden, lurdane (“used as a general term of abuse for a person, especially one regarded as dull or idle: loafer, sluggard”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).