rocky
/ˈɹɒki/
"rocky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rocky” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,543 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #5,543
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Abounding in, or full of, rocks; consisting of rocks.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rocky |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹɒki/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #5,543 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rocky” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for rocky is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɒki/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,543 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for rocky, with forms such as "orcky", "rcoky", and "roccky". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Roy", "Rory", "rosy", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rokki, rokky (“rocky”), from rok, rokke (“rock; a rock or stone; large rock by a coast or in the sea; rocky outcrop on a mountain, cliff; castle, citadel, stronghold”) [and other forms] + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Rok, rokke are de… The correct English form is rocky, spelled R-O-C-K-Y.
Definition
- 1Abounding in, or full of, rocks; consisting of rocks.
- 2Like a rock; rigid, solid.
- 3Having a habitat around or on rocks.
- 4Not easily affected or impressed; stony; hard; obdurate; unfeeling.
Etymology
From Middle English rokki, rokky (“rocky”), from rok, rokke (“rock; a rock or stone; large rock by a coast or in the sea; rocky outcrop on a mountain, cliff; castle, citadel, stronghold”) [and other forms] + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Rok, rokke are derived from: * Old English *rocc (“rock”); and * Anglo-Norman roc, roce, roque, and Old French roce, roke, roque, variants of roche (“rock”); both from Medieval Latin roca, rocca; further etymology uncertain, possibly of Celtic origin. The English word is analysable as rock + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: orcky,rcoky,roccky,rockky,rockyy,rocyk,rokcy,rrocky
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rocky - 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.
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 “rocky”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-O-C-K-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɒki/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Roy” - see the side-by-side comparison. rocky vs Roy
- 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.