Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

holey

/ˈhoʊli/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.13 in modern English

Syllables: ho-ley
IPA: /ˈhoʊli/

11

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Having, or being full of, holes.

Example Sentences

"Fred loved holey Dutch cheese."
"Steven also acknowledged that his presentation of self—wild locs, nerd glasses, and holey hipster jeans for our first interview—encourages whites to speak to him."

Etymology

From Middle English holy, holi, holly, holli (“holey, spongy, hollow”); equivalent to hole + -y. The e was inserted in Modern English to distinguish the word from holy (“hallowed, sacred”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: holy

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈhoʊli/
British English: /ˈhəʊli/

Inflected Forms

holier (comparative) holiest (superlative)

Derived Forms

holeyness

Phrases

holey dollar

Synonyms

porous

Homonyms

wholly holy (in accents without the wholly-holy split) holy holi

Rhymes With

holy slowly wholly poly foley goalie lowly unholy rowley guacamole ravioli moly

Questions

How do you pronounce holey?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhoʊli/.
What does holey mean?: Having, or being full of, holes.
Where does holey come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce holey

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