parry
/ˈpæɹ.i/
"parry" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“parry” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,295 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #16,295
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).
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 | parry |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpæɹ.i/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #16,295 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “parry” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for parry is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpæɹ.i/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,295 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for parry, with forms such as "aprry", "parryy", and "paryr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pay", "pry", "part", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier parree, from Middle English *parree, *paree, from Old French paree (“preparation, ceremony, parade”), from Medieval Latin parāta (“preparation, parade”), from parāre (“to ward off, guard, defend, prepare, get ready”). More at pare. The English … The correct English form is parry, spelled P-A-R-R-Y.
Definition
- 1To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).
Etymology
From earlier parree, from Middle English *parree, *paree, from Old French paree (“preparation, ceremony, parade”), from Medieval Latin parāta (“preparation, parade”), from parāre (“to ward off, guard, defend, prepare, get ready”). More at pare. The English verb is taken from the noun. Doublet of parade. Alternative etymology derives the verb parry from French parez, the imperative form of parer (“to fend off”), ultimately from the Medieval Latin parāre. See above.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aprry,parryy,paryr,pparry,prary
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of parry - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “parry”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-R-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpæɹ.i/ (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. parry 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.