zoinks
/zɔɪŋks/
"zoinks" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“zoinks” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Expressing surprise, fear, etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-zoinks · zoinks · English
zoinks · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "Z" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zoinks |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /zɔɪŋks/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “zoinks” in English
Rare enough to double-check
zoinks is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed /zɔɪŋks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Expressing surprise, fear, etc.".
zoinks doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: The earliest and most commonly known usage of this term is in the American cartoon Scooby-Doo, where it was used regularly by one of the main characters, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers. The correct English form is zoinks, spelled Z-O-I-N-K-S.
Definition
- 1Expressing surprise, fear, etc.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how zoinks appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Oh Zoinks! This really smurfs things up for me! Well, at least I now know why many of my friends might feel my slang isn't as radicool as I do.
After gulping hard, I said aloud, “Zoinks.” I was expecting a big black crow to peck out my eyes, or a woman to hang herself out the second story window.
Etymology
The earliest and most commonly known usage of this term is in the American cartoon Scooby-Doo, where it was used regularly by one of the main characters, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers.
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.