poppycock
/ˈpɒpikɒk/
"poppycock" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“poppycock” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - foolish talk; nonsense.
Corpus desk
Index EN-poppycock · poppycock · English
poppycock · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | poppycock |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɒpikɒk/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “poppycock” in English
Rare enough to double-check
poppycock is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɒpikɒk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "foolish talk; nonsense.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for poppycock, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Dutch pappekak, from Middle Dutch pappe (“soft food”) + kak (“dung, excrement”). The correct English form is poppycock, spelled P-O-P-P-Y-C-O-C-K.
Definition
- 1foolish talk; nonsense.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how poppycock appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
That rumor is nothing but sheer poppycock.
He dismissed the conspiracy theory as poppycock.
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch pappekak, from Middle Dutch pappe (“soft food”) + kak (“dung, excrement”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.