woolly
/ˈwʊli/
"woolly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“woolly” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #27,343 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #27,343
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Made of wool.
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 | woolly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈwʊli/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #27,343 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “woolly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for woolly is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwʊli/. Corpus data places it at rank #27,343 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for woolly, with forms such as "owolly", "wolly", and "wololy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "worldly", "woolsey", "wool", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wolly, equivalent to wool + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wullich (“woolly”), Dutch wollig (“woolly”), German wollig (“woolly”), Swedish ullig (“woolly”). The correct English form is woolly, spelled W-O-O-L-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Made of wool.
- 2Having a thick, soft texture, as if made of wool.
- 3Unclear, fuzzy, hazy, cloudy.
- 4Clothed in wool.
- 5Cross; irritable.
Etymology
From Middle English wolly, equivalent to wool + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wullich (“woolly”), Dutch wollig (“woolly”), German wollig (“woolly”), Swedish ullig (“woolly”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: owolly,wolly,wololy,woollyy,wooly,woolyl,wwoolly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of woolly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "woolly"?
What does "woolly" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "woolly"?
How do you pronounce "woolly"?
What is the origin of the word "woolly"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “woolly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-O-O-L-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwʊli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “worldly” - see the side-by-side comparison. woolly vs worldly
- 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.