silky
/ˈsɪlki/
"silky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“silky” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,772 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #20,772
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Similar in appearance or texture (especially in softness and smoothness) to silk.
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 | silky |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsɪlki/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #20,772 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “silky” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for silky is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɪlki/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,772 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 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for silky, with forms such as "islky", "sikly", and "silkky". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sky", "sly", "sink", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sylky, equivalent to silk + -y. The correct English form is silky, spelled S-I-L-K-Y.
Definition
- 1Similar in appearance or texture (especially in softness and smoothness) to silk.
- 2Smooth and pleasant; seductive.
- 3Covered in long, slender, glistening hairs pressed close to the surface; sericeous.
- 4Having sensibilities of mainstream culture, in contrast to crunchy.
Etymology
From Middle English sylky, equivalent to silk + -y.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: islky,sikly,silkky,silkyy,sillky,silyk,sliky,ssilky
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of silky - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “silky”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-I-L-K-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɪlki/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sky” - see the side-by-side comparison. silky vs sky
- 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.