Camellia oleiferaAbel. is an economically important woody edible-oil species that is mainly cultivated in hilly areas of South China. The phosphorus (P) deficiency in the acidic soils poses severe challenges for the growth and productivity ofC. oleifera. WRKY transcription factors (TFs) have been proven to play important roles in biological processes and plant responses to various biotic/abiotic stresses, including P deficiency tolerance. In this study, 89 WRKY proteins with conserved domain were identified from theC. oleiferadiploid genome and divided into three groups, with group II further classified into five subgroups based on the phylogenetic relationships. WRKY variants and mutations were detected in the gene structure and conserved motifs ofCoWRKYs. Segmental duplication events were considered as the primary driver in the expanding process of WRKY gene family inC. oleifera. Based on transcriptomic analysis of twoC. oleiferavarieties characterized with different P deficiency tolerances, 32CoWRKYgenes exhibited divergent expression patterns in response to P deficiency stress. qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated thatCoWRKY11, -14,-20, -29and -56had higher positive impact on P-efficient CL40 variety compared with P-inefficient CL3 variety. Similar expression trends of theseCoWRKYgenes were further observed under P deficiency with longer treatment period of 120d. The result indicated the expression sensitivity ofCoWRKYson the P-efficient variety and theC. oleiferacultivar specificity on the P deficiency tolerance. Tissue expression difference showedCoWRKYsmay play a crucial role in the transportation and recycling P in leaves by affecting diverse metabolic pathways. The available evidences in the study conclusively shed light on the evolution of theCoWRKYgenes inC. oleiferagenome and provided a valuable resource for further investigation of functional characterization ofWRKYgenes involved to enhance the P deficiency tolerance inC. oleifera.