scaredy

adj

"scaredy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“scaredy” is uncommon English (frequency #71,887 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,887
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Characterised by being timorous or afraid.

Key facts for scaredy
PropertyValue
Headwordscaredy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters7
Frequency rank#71,887
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “scaredy” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). scaredy lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

scaredy is uncommon English at frequency #71,887 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Characterised by being timorous or afraid.".

scaredy has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from scaredy-cat, equivalent to scared + -y. The correct English form is scaredy, spelled S-C-A-R-E-D-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Characterised by being timorous or afraid.

Etymology

Back-formation from scaredy-cat, equivalent to scared + -y.

This word in other languages

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

How do you spell "scaredy"?
"scaredy" is spelled S-C-A-R-E-D-Y.
What does "scaredy" mean?
As an adjective, "scaredy" means: Characterised by being timorous or afraid.
What is the origin of the word "scaredy"?
Back-formation from scaredy-cat, equivalent to scared + -y. 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 “scaredy”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is S-C-A-R-E-D-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list