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tommy

tom·my/ˈtɑmi/noun

tommy is spelled T-O-M-M-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables (tom·my). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tommy means “A British infantryman, especially one from World War I. Ellipsis of Tommy Atkins” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tommy is tommies.

How many letters and syllables are in tommy?

Letters5: T-O-M-M-Y
Syllables2: tom·my
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,496th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is tommy?

Tommy appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,496th 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 tommy?

  • US /ˈtɑmi/
  • UK /ˈtɒmi/

Tommy has 2 syllables, split tom·my in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Tommy.wav, En-au-tommy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tommy?

9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tommy from its last stressed vowel (/ɑmi/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of tommy

  • tommies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • tommying participle, present
  • tommied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tommy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    UKslangA British infantryman, especially one from World War I. Ellipsis of Tommy Atkins.

  2. 2

    UKobsoleteslangBread or breadlike foodstuff, generally a penny roll.

  3. 3

    UKobsoleteslangThe supply of food carried by workmen as their daily allowance.

  4. 4

    UKobsoleteslangA truck, or barter; the exchange of labour for goods instead of money; the scrip by which such exchange occurs.

  5. 5

    A tommy bar.

  6. 6

    slangShort for Tommy gun

  7. 7

    datedslangTommyrot; nonsense.

  8. 8

    obsoleteslangSynonym of dicky (“detachable shirt front”).

noun

as Tommy
  1. 1

    colloquialEllipsis of Tommy Atkins, a typical private in the British army; a British soldier.

  2. 2

    colloquialAny common soldier; a member of the rank and file.

  3. 3

    obsoleterareA lesbian.

  4. 4

    Ellipsis of tommy boy.

  5. 5

    penis

verb

  1. 1

    UKobsoleteslangTo pay (employees) according to the truck system, with goods instead of money.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Where does tommy come from?

Generally agreed to have come from appellativization of Tommy in most senses, but the historical details are apparently largely unknown, including whether such an evolution happened several times (with one sense being independent of another).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tommy