oolong
/ˈuː.lʊŋ/
"oolong" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oolong” is uncommon English (frequency #61,001 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #61,001
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A partially fermented tea, often roasted, which combines the characteristics of green tea and black tea.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | oolong |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈuː.lʊŋ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #61,001 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oolong” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
oolong is uncommon English at frequency #61,001 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈuː.lʊŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A partially fermented tea, often roasted, which combines the characteristics of green tea and black tea.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for oolong, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: 1850s. From either Mandarin 烏龍 /乌龙 (wūlóng) due to hypercorrection, or directly from Hokkien 烏龍 /乌龙 (o͘-liông), from 烏 /乌 (o͘, “black”) + 龍 /龙 (liông, “dragon”). See also pouchong from Hokkien 包種茶 /包种茶 (pau-chióng-tê, literally “tea of the wrapped kind”). The correct English form is oolong, spelled O-O-L-O-N-G.
Definition
- 1A partially fermented tea, often roasted, which combines the characteristics of green tea and black tea.
Etymology
1850s. From either Mandarin 烏龍 /乌龙 (wūlóng) due to hypercorrection, or directly from Hokkien 烏龍 /乌龙 (o͘-liông), from 烏 /乌 (o͘, “black”) + 龍 /龙 (liông, “dragon”). See also pouchong from Hokkien 包種茶 /包种茶 (pau-chióng-tê, literally “tea of the wrapped kind”).
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
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Using “oolong”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-O-L-O-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈuː.lʊŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.