Tory
/ˈtɔː.ɹi/
"tory" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Tory” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,368 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,368
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A member or supporter of the Conservative Party, which evolved from Royalist politicians; historically associated with upholding the rights of the monarchy and the privileges of the established Chu...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Tory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɔː.ɹi/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #8,368 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Tory” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Tory is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɔː.ɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,368 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Tory, with forms such as "otry", "torry", and "toryy". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Ty", "try", "toy", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler, Earl of Ormond, to a Colonel O'Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways. The correct English form is Tory, spelled T-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A member or supporter of the Conservative Party, which evolved from Royalist politicians; historically associated with upholding the rights of the monarchy and the privileges of the established Church.
- 2One who is like a British Tory; someone politically conservative.
- 3A member or supporter of the Conservative Party of Canada, one of that party's predecessors, or an affiliated provincial political party.
- 4A member of the political factions that sought to prevent the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from the throne of England in the 17th century.
- 5An Irish rebel fighting against English rule at the end of the Confederate War and Cromwellian invasion; later extended to other rebels or bandits.
- 6A loyal British subject during the American Revolution.
- 7A Union sympathizer in the Confederate States during the American Civil War.
Etymology
From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler, Earl of Ormond, to a Colonel O'Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: otry,torry,toryy,toyr,ttory
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Tory - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "Tory"?
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Using “Tory”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-O-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɔː.ɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Ty” - see the side-by-side comparison. Tory vs Ty
- 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.