uppity
/ˈʌpəti/
"uppity" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“uppity” is an uncommon English word, ranked #54,553 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #54,553
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Presumptuous, above oneself, self-important; arrogant, snobbish, haughty.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | uppity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈʌpəti/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #54,553 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “uppity” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for uppity is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈʌpəti/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,553 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for uppity in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier uppedy, equivalent to up + -ed + -y; compare blackity, biggity, and hippity (and possibly also persnickety, pernickety). First attested around 1880 in Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris to describe Jack Sparrer (Jack Sparrow), who tattled on B… The correct English form is uppity, spelled U-P-P-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Presumptuous, above oneself, self-important; arrogant, snobbish, haughty.
- 2Exceeding one's station or position, assuming prerogatives to which one is not entitled.
Etymology
From earlier uppedy, equivalent to up + -ed + -y; compare blackity, biggity, and hippity (and possibly also persnickety, pernickety). First attested around 1880 in Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris to describe Jack Sparrer (Jack Sparrow), who tattled on Br'er Rabbit (see quotations below). Compare uppish.
This word in other languages
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
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Using “uppity”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is U-P-P-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʌpəti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.