silky
/ˈsɪlki/adjective, noun
silky is spelled S-I-L-K-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, silky means “Similar in appearance or texture (especially in softness and smoothness) to silk” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in silky?
| Letters | 5: S-I-L-K-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is silky?
Silky appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th 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 silky?
- /ˈsɪlki/
Silky has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-silky.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of silky
- silkier comparative
- silkiest superlative
- silkies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does silky mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Similar in appearance or texture (especially in softness and smoothness) to silk.
silky hair
- 2
Smooth and pleasant; seductive.
a silky voice
- 3
Covered in long, slender, glistening hairs pressed close to the surface; sericeous.
- 4
slangHaving sensibilities of mainstream culture, in contrast to crunchy.
Cribs and formula, strollers and baby food epitomize silky parenting.
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of silkie.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Silky in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense similar in texture or appearance to silk:
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 silky come from?
From Middle English sylky, equivalent to silk + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).