murphy
/ˈmɝfi/noun
murphy is spelled M-U-R-P-H-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, murphy means “An Irish or white potato” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of murphy is murphies.
How many letters and syllables are in murphy?
| Letters | 6: M-U-R-P-H-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is murphy?
Murphy appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th 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 murphy?
- UK /ˈmɜːfi/
- US /ˈmɝfi/
Murphy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Murphy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with murphy?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as murphy from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹfi/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of murphy
- murphies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does murphy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An Irish or white potato.
To the chimney nook, / Having found admittance, / There I watch a pup / Playing with two kittens / (Playing round the fire, / Which of blazing turf is, / Roaring to the pot / Which bubbles with the murphies) […]
noun
- 1
slangEllipsis of Murphy game (“type of confidence trick”).
verb
- 1
slangTo swindle by means of the Murphy game confidence trick.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does murphy come from?
From the common Irish name Murphy. Compare Donovan (“a potato”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).