skelly
/ˈskɛli/verb, noun
skelly is spelled S-K-E-L-L-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, skelly means “To squint” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in skelly?
| Letters | 6: S-K-E-L-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 64,400th 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 skelly?
Skelly appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th 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 skelly?
- /ˈskɛli/
Skelly 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).
Forms of skelly
- skellies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- skellying participle, present
- skellied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does skelly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
ScotlandTo squint.
- 2
ScotlandTo look at
noun
- 1
slangA skeleton, especially a human one.
We went spelunking in some caves and got quite the scare when we found some skellies in there.
- 2
ScotlandarchaicA squint.
- 3
Alternative form of skully (“street game of flicking caps”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does skelly come from?
Probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *skjelga ("to squint"; found only in the reflexive skjelgask (“to come askew; squint the eyes”)), from Proto-Germanic *skilgijaną (“to squint”), from Proto-Germanic *skelhaz, *skelhwaz, *skelgaz (“slanted; sloping; squinting”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“to bend; crook”). Compare Danish skele (“to squint”), Swedish skela (“to squint”), Scots skellie, scalie, skellice (“to squint; look to the side”), German schielen (“to squint”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).