scaly
/ˈskeɪli/adjective, noun
scaly is spelled S-C-A-L-Y: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, scaly means “Covered or abounding with scales” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scaly?
| Letters | 5: S-C-A-L-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is scaly?
Scaly appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scaly?
- /ˈskeɪli/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-scaly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of scaly
- scalier comparative
- scaliest superlative
- scalies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scaly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Covered or abounding with scales.
a scaly fish a scaly stem
- 2
Composed of scales lying over each other.
a scaly bulb
- 3
Resembling scales, laminae, or layers.
- 4
datedvulgarlow, mean.
a scaly fellow
noun
- 1
The scaly yellowfish (Labeobarbus natalensis).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scaly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | écailleux |
| German | schuppig |
| Portuguese | escamoso |
| Spanish | escamoso , escuamiforme |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scaly come from?
From Middle English scali, skaly. By surface analysis, scale + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).