showy
/ˈʃəʊ.i/
"showy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“showy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,687 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #37,687
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Calling attention; flashy; standing out to the eye.
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 | showy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈʃəʊ.i/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #37,687 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “showy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for showy is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈʃəʊ.i/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,687 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 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 showy, with forms such as "hsowy", "shhowy", and "showwy". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "shy", "soy", "sow", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From show (noun) + -y. The correct English form is showy, spelled S-H-O-W-Y.
Definition
- 1Calling attention; flashy; standing out to the eye.
- 2Making a striking or aesthetically pleasing display.
- 3Inclined to showing (by conveying an impression so that events are described in the narrative), instead of telling (by explicitly stating facts).
Etymology
From show (noun) + -y.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsowy,shhowy,showwy,showyy,shoyw,shwoy,sohwy,sshowy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of showy - 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
How do you spell "showy"?
What does "showy" mean?
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Using “showy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-O-W-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃəʊ.i/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “shy” - see the side-by-side comparison. showy vs shy
- 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.