pokey
/ˈpoʊ.ki/adjective, noun
pokey is spelled P-O-K-E-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, pokey means “Of a room or house, of small volume, cramped” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in pokey?
| Letters | 5: P-O-K-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 50,539th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is pokey?
Pokey appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pokey?
- US /ˈpoʊ.ki/
Pokey has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-pokey.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with pokey?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pokey from its last stressed vowel (/oʊki/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of pokey
- poky
- pokeys plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pokey mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of a room or house, of small volume, cramped.
- 2
slangSlow.
- 3
slangOf a car, fast.
noun
- 1
slangPrison.
- 2
slangA knife.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pokey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.