teddy bear

noun

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

"teddy-bear" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“teddy bear” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A plush toy in the shape of a bear.

Key facts for teddy bear
PropertyValue
Headwordteddy bear
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “teddy bear” sits in English frequency

teddy bear falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

teddy bear is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for teddy bear in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Morris Michtom, the owner of a candy store in Brooklyn N.Y., who made the first “Teddy Bear” in the year 1902 in honor of then American President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt when he had heard that he had refused to shoot a bear cub on one of his hunting… The correct English form is teddy bear, spelled T-E-D-D-Y- -B-E-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A plush toy in the shape of a bear.
  2. 2
    A lovable, endearing, large, strong, hairy, or sweet man, particularly one who is gentle in spite of a burly or gruff appearance.

Etymology

From Morris Michtom, the owner of a candy store in Brooklyn N.Y., who made the first “Teddy Bear” in the year 1902 in honor of then American President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt when he had heard that he had refused to shoot a bear cub on one of his hunting trips.

This word in other languages

osito(Español)ours en peluche(Français)Teddybär(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "teddy bear"?
"teddy bear" is spelled T-E-D-D-Y- -B-E-A-R.
What does "teddy bear" mean?
As a noun, "teddy bear" means: A plush toy in the shape of a bear.
What is the origin of the word "teddy bear"?
From Morris Michtom, the owner of a candy store in Brooklyn N.Y., who made the first “Teddy Bear” in the year 1902 in honor of then American President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt when he had heard that he had refused to shoot a bear cub on one of h... 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.

Using “teddy bear”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-E-D-D-Y- -B-E-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list