swarthy
/ˈswɔɹði/
"swarthy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“swarthy” is an uncommon English word, ranked #78,174 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #78,174
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tawny, dusky, dark.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | swarthy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈswɔɹði/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #78,174 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “swarthy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for swarthy is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈswɔɹði/. Corpus data places it at rank #78,174 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for swarthy in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of obsolete swarty, from swart + -y, from Old English sweart (“black”). The correct English form is swarthy, spelled S-W-A-R-T-H-Y.
Definition
- 1Tawny, dusky, dark.
- 2Dark-skinned; black.
- 3Darker-skinned than white, but lighter-skinned than tawny; tan.
- 4A dark grey color.
- 5Evil, malicious.
- 6Weathered, rough.
Etymology
Alteration of obsolete swarty, from swart + -y, from Old English sweart (“black”).
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 “swarthy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-W-A-R-T-H-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈswɔɹði/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.