muggins
/ˈmʌ.ɡɪnz/
"muggins" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“muggins” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fool or idiot (especially as an ironic way of referring to oneself).
Corpus desk
Index EN-muggins · muggins · English
muggins · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | muggins |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmʌ.ɡɪnz/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “muggins” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
muggins is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmʌ.ɡɪnz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for muggins, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Origin unknown. Sense 'fool' originally British slang of 1770s, probably an extension of earlier mug (“fool”). Game senses perhaps from surname Muggins. The correct English form is muggins, spelled M-U-G-G-I-N-S.
Definition
- 1A fool or idiot (especially as an ironic way of referring to oneself).
- 2The act of stealing another player's points because they either mispegged or counted up incorrectly.
- 3A game of dominoes in which the object is to make the sum of the two ends of the line some multiple of five.
- 4A card game based on building in suits or matching exposed cards, the object being to get rid of one's cards.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how muggins appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I suppose muggins here will have to do all the work, as usual.
"And I thought: if muggins here, a 37-year-old government minister who can look after myself, feels that way, then we need to really think about how we're putting in place a level of protection for women.
Etymology
Origin unknown. Sense 'fool' originally British slang of 1770s, probably an extension of earlier mug (“fool”). Game senses perhaps from surname Muggins.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.