mooch

/muːt͡ʃ/

//muːt͡ʃ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“mooch” is uncommon English (frequency #57,569 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,569
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To wander around aimlessly, often causing irritation to others.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mooch · mooch · English

mooch · rank #57,569 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,569
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Morrill

Nearest frequency peer: Morrill (+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 “mooch”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mooch
PropertyValue
Headwordmooch
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/muːt͡ʃ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#57,569
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “mooch” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).moochfalls 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: “Morrill” (#57,571), “mouldy” (#57,572), “munger” (#57,573). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mooch” is #57,569. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mooch is uncommon English at frequency #57,569 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /muːt͡ʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for mooch, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English moochen, mouchen (“to pretend poverty”), from Old French muchier, mucier, mucer (“to skulk, hide, conceal”), from Frankish *mukkjan (“to hide, conceal oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *mukjaną, *mūkōną (“to hide, ambush”), from Proto-Indo-… The correct English form is mooch, spelled M-O-O-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    To wander around aimlessly, often causing irritation to others.
  2. 2
    To beg, cadge, or sponge; to exploit or take advantage of others for personal gain.
  3. 3
    To steal or filch.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Near-synonyms: loiter, roam
  2. These chaps that mooch about, as Hyde was doing, pick up all sorts of odds and ends. He may have pinched them from a chemist’s shop.

Etymology

From Middle English moochen, mouchen (“to pretend poverty”), from Old French muchier, mucier, mucer (“to skulk, hide, conceal”), from Frankish *mukkjan (“to hide, conceal oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *mukjaną, *mūkōną (“to hide, ambush”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mūg-, *(s)mewgʰ- (“swindler, thief”). Cognate with Old High German mūhhōn (“to store, cache, plunder”), Middle High German muchen, mucken (“to hide, stash”), Middle English müchen, michen (“to rob, steal, pilfer”). More at mitch. Alternate etymology derives mooch from Middle English mucchen (“to hoard, be stingy”, literally “to hide coins in one's nightcap”), from Middle English mucche (“nightcap”), from Middle Dutch mutse (“cap, nightcap”), from Medieval Latin almucia (“nightcap”), of unknown origin, possibly Arabic. More at mutch, amice.

This word in other languages

vagar(Español)errer(Français)herumlungern(Deutsch)zanzar(Português)

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 "mooch"?
"mooch" is spelled M-O-O-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /muːt͡ʃ/.
What does "mooch" mean?
As a verb, "mooch" means: To wander around aimlessly, often causing irritation to others.
How do you pronounce "mooch"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mooch" is /muːt͡ʃ/. 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 "mooch"?
From Middle English moochen, mouchen (“to pretend poverty”), from Old French muchier, mucier, mucer (“to skulk, hide, conceal”), from Frankish *mukkjan (“to hide, conceal oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *mukjaną, *mūkōną (“to hide, ambush”), from P... 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 "mooch", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Murph#57,575musky#57,579Medan#57,554McCaw#57,553

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list