tomfoolery

/ˌtɒmˈfuːlə.ɹi/

//ˌtɒmˈfuːlə.ɹi// noun

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

"tomfoolery" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tomfoolery” is uncommon English (frequency #72,836 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,836
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Foolish behaviour or speech.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tomfoolery · tomfoolery · English

tomfoolery · rank #72,836 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,836
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Tirupati

Nearest frequency peer: Tirupati (-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 “tomfoolery”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tomfoolery
PropertyValue
Headwordtomfoolery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌtɒmˈfuːlə.ɹi/
Letters10
Frequency rank#72,836
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tomfoolery” 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).tomfooleryfalls 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: “Tirupati” (#72,835), “trackage” (#72,838), “Trammell” (#72,839). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tomfoolery” is #72,836. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tomfoolery is uncommon English at frequency #72,836 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌtɒmˈfuːlə.ɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

tomfoolery doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Tom (a common man) + foolery. The correct English form is tomfoolery, spelled T-O-M-F-O-O-L-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Foolish behaviour or speech.
  2. 2
    Jewellery.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. "Do not think THAT," I put in. "It was not so at all. I grant you that my behaviour was bad—I fully confess that it was so, and make no secret of the fact. I would even go so far as to grant you that my behaviour might well be called stupid and indecent tomfoolery; but, MORE than that it was not.

Etymology

From Tom (a common man) + foolery.

This word in other languages

payasada(Español)pitrerie(Français)Unsinn(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 "tomfoolery"?
"tomfoolery" is spelled T-O-M-F-O-O-L-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌtɒmˈfuːlə.ɹi/.
What does "tomfoolery" mean?
As a noun, "tomfoolery" means: Foolish behaviour or speech.
How do you pronounce "tomfoolery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tomfoolery" is /ˌtɒmˈfuːlə.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 "tomfoolery"?
From Tom (a common man) + foolery. 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 "tomfoolery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

timberline#72,832telenovela#72,819underfloor#72,856urological#72,867

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list