paddy
/ˈpædi/
"paddy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paddy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,649 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,649
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Rough or unhusked rice, either before it is milled or as a crop to be harvested.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paddy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpædi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #12,649 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “paddy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for paddy is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpædi/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,649 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for paddy, with forms such as "apddy", "paddyy", and "pady". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pay", "paid", "pads", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Malay padi (“paddy plant”). Doublet of palay. The correct English form is paddy, spelled P-A-D-D-Y.
Definition
- 1Rough or unhusked rice, either before it is milled or as a crop to be harvested.
- 2A paddy field, a rice paddy; an irrigated or flooded field where rice is grown.
Etymology
Borrowed from Malay padi (“paddy plant”). Doublet of palay.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apddy,paddyy,pady,padyd,pdady,ppaddy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of paddy - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "paddy"?
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Using “paddy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-D-D-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpædi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pay” - see the side-by-side comparison. paddy vs pay
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.