yahoo
/ˈjɑːhuː/
"yahoo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“yahoo” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,879. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #8,879
- frequency rank, English
- 2,763
- “Y” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A rough, coarse, loud or uncouth individual.
Corpus desk
Index EN-yahoo · yahoo · English
yahoo · rank #8,879 · 6 variants · 4 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #8,879
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,763
- PHOTO-FINISH wiped
Nearest frequency peer: wiped (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “yahoo”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- wheelchair
wheelchair
91,125 corpus weight
- whore
whore
91,124 corpus weight
- wiped
wiped
91,123 corpus weight
- yahoo
yahoo
91,122 corpus weight
- yourselves
yourselves
91,120 corpus weight
- accompanying
accompanying
91,119 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “yahoo” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | yahoo |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈjɑːhuː/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #8,879 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “yahoo” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around yahoo (IPA /ˈjɑːhuː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,879 among 2,763 “Y” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for yahoo, with forms such as "ayhoo", "yahhoo", and "yaho". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "yoo", "Yao", "Yahya", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, where Yahoo is the name of a race of brutes. The correct English form is yahoo, spelled Y-A-H-O-O.
Definition
- 1A rough, coarse, loud or uncouth individual.
- 2A humanoid cryptid said to exist in parts of eastern Australia, and also reported in the Bahamas.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how yahoo appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1835, James Holman, Travels, quoted by Malcolm Smith, Bunyips and Bigfoots (Millennium Books, 1996, →ISBN), who notes that the Australian sense almost certainly derives from Gulliver's Travels, despite Holman's report The natives are greatly terrrified by the sight of a person in a mask calling him "devil" or Yah-hoo, which signifies evil spirit.
Etymology
From Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, where Yahoo is the name of a race of brutes.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ayhoo
- yahhoo
- yaho
- yaoho
- yhaoo
- yyahoo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of yahoo - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "yahoo"?
What does "yahoo" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "yahoo"?
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What is the origin of the word "yahoo"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "yahoo", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.