salty dog

noun

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

"salty-dog" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“salty dog” 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 May 6, 2026) - An experienced sailor.

Key facts for salty dog
PropertyValue
Headwordsalty dog
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “salty dog” sits in English frequency

salty dog falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

salty dog is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for salty dog, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the salt of the sea. Compare old salt and seadog. Sexual sense may be due to association of sailors with sexual promiscuity, or may be separate development, salty (“spicy”) and dog both suggesting promiscuity. The correct English form is salty dog, spelled S-A-L-T-Y- -D-O-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    An experienced sailor.
  2. 2
    A sexually promiscuous man; a male sexual partner.

Etymology

From the salt of the sea. Compare old salt and seadog. Sexual sense may be due to association of sailors with sexual promiscuity, or may be separate development, salty (“spicy”) and dog both suggesting promiscuity.

This word in other languages

chaud lapin(Français)

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "salty dog"?
"salty dog" is spelled S-A-L-T-Y- -D-O-G.
What does "salty dog" mean?
As a noun, "salty dog" means: An experienced sailor.
What is the origin of the word "salty dog"?
From the salt of the sea. Compare old salt and seadog. Sexual sense may be due to association of sailors with sexual promiscuity, or may be separate development, salty (“spicy”) and dog both suggesting promiscuity. 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.

Using “salty dog”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-A-L-T-Y- -D-O-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list