shadowy
/ˈʃæd.oʊ.i/
"shadowy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shadowy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,358 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #21,358
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In shadow; darkened by shadows.
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 | shadowy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈʃæd.oʊ.i/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #21,358 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shadowy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for shadowy is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈʃæd.oʊ.i/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,358 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for shadowy, with forms such as "hsadowy", "sahdowy", and "shaddowy". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "shady", "showy", "shadow", 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 schadwy, schadowy, equivalent to shadow + -y. The correct English form is shadowy, spelled S-H-A-D-O-W-Y.
Definition
- 1In shadow; darkened by shadows.
- 2Dark, obscure.
- 3Vague, dim, unclear, faint of an image.
- 4Indulging in fancies; daydreaming.
Etymology
From Middle English schadwy, schadowy, equivalent to shadow + -y.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsadowy,sahdowy,shaddowy,shadowwy,shadowyy,shadoyw,shadwoy,shaodwy,shdaowy,shhadowy,sshadowy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shadowy - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “shadowy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-A-D-O-W-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃæd.oʊ.i/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “shady” - see the side-by-side comparison. shadowy vs shady
- 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.