yokel
/ˈjəʊ.kəl/
"yokel" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“yokel” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | yokel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈjəʊ.kəl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “yokel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for yokel is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈjəʊ.kəl/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for yokel, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: First use appears c. 1812, possibly from dialectal German Jokel, diminutive of Jakob, cf. Yankee (“little John”) and jacquerie (“a peasant uprising”). Alternatively, from dialectal English yokel, yuckle (“a European green woodpecker”), itself probably a var… The correct English form is yokel, spelled Y-O-K-E-L.
Definition
- 1A person from or living in the countryside, viewed as being unsophisticated or naive.
Etymology
First use appears c. 1812, possibly from dialectal German Jokel, diminutive of Jakob, cf. Yankee (“little John”) and jacquerie (“a peasant uprising”). Alternatively, from dialectal English yokel, yuckle (“a European green woodpecker”), itself probably a variant of hickwall.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "yokel"?
What does "yokel" mean?
How do you pronounce "yokel"?
What is the origin of the word "yokel"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “yokel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Y-O-K-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈjəʊ.kəl/ (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.