yucky

/ˈjʌkɪ/

//ˈjʌkɪ// adj

"yucky" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“yucky” is uncommon English (frequency #54,581 among 366 “Y” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,581
frequency rank, English
366
“Y” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of something highly offensive; causing aversion or disgust.

Corpus desk

Index EN-yucky · yucky · English

yucky · rank #54,581 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,581
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 366
  • PHOTO-FINISH zacks

Nearest frequency peer: zacks (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “yucky”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “yucky” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for yucky
PropertyValue
Headwordyucky
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈjʌkɪ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#54,581
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “yucky” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).yuckyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “zacks” (#54,582), “yessir” (#54,579), “Yeong” (#54,578). Among 366 “Y” headwords, “yucky” is #54,581. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

yucky is uncommon English at frequency #54,581 among 366 “Y” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈjʌkɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of something highly offensive; causing aversion or disgust.".

Zero misspellings are on record for yucky in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From yuck + -y. Compare Old English ġyċċiġ (“putrid”). The correct English form is yucky, spelled Y-U-C-K-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of something highly offensive; causing aversion or disgust.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how yucky appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The food that I ate today was very yucky.
  2. "Don't rule out desalination because it is expensive, or recycling because it sounds yucky, or building a dam," Mr Turnbull told Australian media."

Etymology

From yuck + -y. Compare Old English ġyċċiġ (“putrid”).

Synonyms

Antonyms

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

How do you spell "yucky"?
"yucky" is spelled Y-U-C-K-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈjʌkɪ/.
What does "yucky" mean?
As an adjective, "yucky" means: Of something highly offensive; causing aversion or disgust.
How do you pronounce "yucky"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yucky" is /ˈjʌkɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "yucky"?
From yuck + -y. Compare Old English ġyċċiġ (“putrid”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "yucky", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list