tarry

/ˈtæ.ɹi/

//ˈtæ.ɹi// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tarry" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tarry” is uncommon English (frequency #57,758 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,758
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To delay; to be late or tardy in beginning or doing anything.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tarry · tarry · English

tarry · rank #57,758 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,758
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tardiness

Nearest frequency peer: tardiness (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “tarry”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “tarry” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tarry
PropertyValue
Headwordtarry
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈtæ.ɹi/
Letters5
Frequency rank#57,758
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tarry” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).tarryfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “tardiness” (#57,757), “Tartarus” (#57,759), “tamoxifen” (#57,756). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tarry” is #57,758. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tarry is uncommon English at frequency #57,758 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈtæ.ɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tarry, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tarien, terien (“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”), from Old English tirian, tirġan, terġan (“to worry, exasperate, pain, provoke, excite”), from Proto-Germanic *terganą, *targijaną (“to pull, tease, irritate”), from Proto-Indo-… The correct English form is tarry, spelled T-A-R-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    To delay; to be late or tardy in beginning or doing anything.
  2. 2
    To linger in expectation of something or until something is done or happens.
  3. 3
    To abide, stay or wait somewhere, especially if longer than planned.
  4. 4
    To stay somewhere temporarily.
  5. 5
    To wait for; to stay or stop for; to allow to linger.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tarry appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.
  2. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Etymology

From Middle English tarien, terien (“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”), from Old English tirian, tirġan, terġan (“to worry, exasperate, pain, provoke, excite”), from Proto-Germanic *terganą, *targijaną (“to pull, tease, irritate”), from Proto-Indo-European *derHgʰ- (“to pull, tug, irritate”). Cognate with Dutch tergen (“to provoke”), German zergen (“to vex, irritate, provoke”), Norwegian Bokmål terge (“to irritate, provoke”), Russian дёргать (djórgatʹ, “to pull, yank, jerk, pester”). Compare also Walloon tårdjî (“to be late, to be slow, to wait”). Compare typologically Czech meškat, Russian ме́шкать (méškatʹ) (akin to меша́ть (mešátʹ)), копа́ться (kopátʹsja) (akin to копа́ть (kopátʹ)).

Synonyms

abideeldlingerretardstaytarrywait

Antonyms

goleave

This word in other languages

demorar(Español)tarder(Français)zaudern(Deutsch)

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 "tarry"?
"tarry" is spelled T-A-R-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtæ.ɹi/.
What does "tarry" mean?
As a verb, "tarry" means: To delay; to be late or tardy in beginning or doing anything.
How do you pronounce "tarry"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tarry" is /ˈtæ.ɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tarry"?
From Middle English tarien, terien (“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”), from Old English tirian, tirġan, terġan (“to worry, exasperate, pain, provoke, excite”), from Proto-Germanic *terganą, *targijaną (“to pull, tease, irritate”), from P... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tarry", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Trini#57,784sprig#57,730Truex#57,787singe#57,713

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list