Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

curly

/ˈkɜːli/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.60 in modern English

Syllables
curly
IPA
/ˈkɜːli/
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Having curls.

adj

Curling in a direction, as opposed to straight (quotation marks or apostrophes)

adj

Complicated and difficult; knotty.

Australian usage

noun

a person or animal with curly hair.

name

A nickname for a person with curly hair.

name

A nickname for a bald person.

Humorous

name

A male given name.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree English curl Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English curly From curl + -y.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈkɜːli/
  • British English: /ˈkɜːli/

Usage

Inflected Forms

curlier (comparative) curliest (superlative) curlies (plural)

Derived Forms

becurtovirus curlicue curlily curliness curlyhaired curlyhead noncurly uncurly

Phrases

curly apostrophe curly birch curly brace curly bracket curly cuh curly endive curly fries curly fry

Frequently Paired Words

short and curlies

Rhymes With

early shirley hurley pearly burley surly girlie burly gurley curley worley turley

Questions

How do you pronounce curly?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkɜːli/.
What does curly mean?
Having curls.
Where does curly come from?
Etymology tree English curl Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English curly From curl + -y.

How to pronounce curly

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “curly”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkɜːli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “curly”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “curly” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.