peckish

/ˈpɛk.ɪʃ/

//ˈpɛk.ɪʃ// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"peckish" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“peckish” is uncommon English (frequency #92,987 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,987
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mildly hungry

Corpus desk

Index EN-peckish · peckish · English

peckish · rank #92,987 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,987
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pedagogue

Nearest frequency peer: pedagogue (+1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “peckish”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “peckish” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for peckish
PropertyValue
Headwordpeckish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpɛk.ɪʃ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#92,987
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “peckish” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).peckishfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “pedagogue” (#92,988), “Paxil” (#92,985), “Pelagius” (#92,989). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “peckish” is #92,987. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

peckish is uncommon English at frequency #92,987 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈpɛk.ɪʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for peckish in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From peck (verb) + -ish. From late 18th century. The correct English form is peckish, spelled P-E-C-K-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    mildly hungry
  2. 2
    irritable; crotchety

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how peckish appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. After that run, I'm feeling a bit peckish.

Etymology

From peck (verb) + -ish. From late 18th century.

This word in other languages

hungrig(Deutsch)

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 "peckish"?
"peckish" is spelled P-E-C-K-I-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɛk.ɪʃ/.
What does "peckish" mean?
As an adjective, "peckish" means: mildly hungry
How do you pronounce "peckish"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "peckish" is /ˈpɛk.ɪʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "peckish"?
From peck (verb) + -ish. From late 18th century. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "peckish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

perfidy#92,993Panmure#92,977Philpot#93,004Phrygia#93,007

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list