ratty
/ˈɹæti/
"ratty" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ratty” is uncommon English (frequency #55,047 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,047
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Resembling or characteristic of a rat; ratlike.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ratty · ratty · English
ratty · rank #55,047 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #55,047
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH randomization
Nearest frequency peer: randomization (-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 “ratty”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- quenched
quenched
44,958 corpus weight
- quotable
quotable
44,957 corpus weight
- randomizati…
randomization
44,955 corpus weight
- ratty
ratty
44,954 corpus weight
- reflectance
reflectance
44,951 corpus weight
- relegate
relegate
44,950 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “ratty” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ratty |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹæti/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #55,047 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ratty” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ratty is uncommon English at frequency #55,047 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɹæti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
ratty has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From rat + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjective). The correct English form is ratty, spelled R-A-T-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Resembling or characteristic of a rat; ratlike.
- 2Infested with rats.
- 3In poor condition or repair.
- 4Crazy, mad; ridiculous; slightly strange, eccentric; also (followed by about, on, or over), attracted to, infatuated with.
- 5Annoyed, bad-tempered, irritable.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ratty appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We got an old tin lantern, and a butcher knife without any handle, and a bran-new Barlow knife worth two bits in any store, and a lot of tallow candles, and a tin candlestick, and a gourd, and a tin cup, and a ratty old bed-quilt off the bed, […] and just as we were leaving I found a tolerable good curry-comb, and Jim he found a ratty old fiddle-bow, and…
The Marcher lord was still clad in his ratty black cloak and dented breastplate with its chipped enamel lightning.
Etymology
From rat + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjective).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ratty", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).