powdery

/ˈpaʊdəɹi/

//ˈpaʊdəɹi// adj

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

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

The verdict

“powdery” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,560. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#38,560
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to powder.

Corpus desk

Index EN-powdery · powdery · English

powdery · rank #38,560 · 11 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #38,560
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH postsecondary

Nearest frequency peer: postsecondary (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “powdery”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “powdery” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

powdery vs power
71% similar
powdery vs Powers
57% similar
powdery vs powder
86% similar

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

Key facts for powdery
PropertyValue
Headwordpowdery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpaʊdəɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#38,560
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “powdery”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).powderylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “postsecondary” (#38,559), “PPE” (#38,561), “pram” (#38,562). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “powdery” is #38,560. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around powdery (IPA /ˈpaʊdəɹi/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #38,560 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for powdery, with forms such as "opwdery", "podwery", and "powddery". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "power", "Powers", "powder", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From powder + -y. The correct English form is powdery, spelled P-O-W-D-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to powder.
  2. 2
    Having a lot of powder.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. powdery drink
  2. We were plowing through great deeps of powdery alkali dust that rose in thick clouds and floated across the plain like smoke from a burning house. We were coated with it like millers; so were the coach, the mules, the mail-bags, the driver—we and the sage-brush and the other scenery were all one monotonous color.

Etymology

From powder + -y.

Antonyms

nonpowdery

This word in other languages

poudreux(Français)pulverig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • opwdery
  • podwery
  • powddery
  • powderry
  • powderyy
  • powdeyr
  • powdrey
  • powedry
  • powwdery
  • ppowdery
  • pwodery

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of powdery - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

opwdery2podwery2powddery1powderry1powderyy1powdeyr2powdrey2powedry2
Edit distance from "powdery"

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 "powdery"?
"powdery" is spelled P-O-W-D-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpaʊdəɹi/.
What does "powdery" mean?
As an adjective, "powdery" means: Of or pertaining to powder.
What words are commonly confused with "powdery"?
"powdery" is commonly confused with "power", "Powers", "powder". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "powdery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "powdery" is /ˈpaʊdəɹi/. 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 "powdery"?
From powder + -y. 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 "powdery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

placate#38,555phrased#38,552peloton#38,550peerage#38,548

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

rampart11 variantsoverused11 variantsovercoat11 variantsnostril11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list