ratty
/ˈɹæti/
"ratty" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ratty” is an uncommon English word, ranked #55,047 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #55,047
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Resembling or characteristic of a rat; ratlike.
| 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) |
Where “ratty” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ratty is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹæti/. Corpus data places it at rank #55,047 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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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Using “ratty”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-A-T-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹæti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.