poi

/pɔɪ/

//pɔɪ// noun

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

"poi" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“poi” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #35,882) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#35,882
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The traditional staple food of Hawaii, made by baking and pounding the kalo (or taro) root, and reducing it to a thin paste, which is allowed to ferment.

Corpus desk

Index EN-poi · poi · English

poi · rank #35,882 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,882
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pimple

Nearest frequency peer: pimple (-2 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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “poi”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “poi” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

poi vs PP
0% similar
poi vs PR
0% similar
poi vs pt
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for poi
PropertyValue
Headwordpoi
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɔɪ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#35,882
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “poi”

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).poilands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “pimple” (#35,880), “Popeye” (#35,884), “PID” (#35,879). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “poi” is #35,882. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for poi is neighbouring look-alikes ("PP", "PR", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /pɔɪ/. Frequency #35,882 among 4,417 “P” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

poi has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PP", "PR", "pt", 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 Hawaiian poi. The correct English form is poi, spelled P-O-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    The traditional staple food of Hawaii, made by baking and pounding the kalo (or taro) root, and reducing it to a thin paste, which is allowed to ferment.
  2. 2
    A creamy Samoan dessert of ripe bananas mashed with coconut cream.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. It was a far cry from the traditional Hawaiian feast, which always included the beloved poi, a purplish paste made from pounded taro root […].

Etymology

Borrowed from Hawaiian poi.

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 "poi"?
"poi" is spelled P-O-I. The IPA pronunciation is /pɔɪ/.
What does "poi" mean?
As a noun, "poi" means: The traditional staple food of Hawaii, made by baking and pounding the kalo (or taro) root, and reducing it to a thin paste, which is allowed to ferment.
What words are commonly confused with "poi"?
"poi" is commonly confused with "PP", "PR", "pt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "poi"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poi" is /pɔɪ/. 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 "poi"?
Borrowed from Hawaiian poi. 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 "poi", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

PID#35,879ped#35,872SLA#35,938Snr#35,942

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list