Giraffe

[ˌɡiˈʁafə]

/[ˌɡiˈʁafə]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Giraffe” has 8 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #29,157. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,157
frequency rank, German
5,117
“G” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (in afrikanischen Savannen der mittelafrikanischen Steppen beheimatetes, in Herden lebendes) großes, langbeiniges, pflanzenfressendes Säugetier (Giraffa camelopardalis) mit einem 2–3 Meter langen H...

Corpus desk

Index DE-giraffe · Giraffe · German

Giraffe · rank #29,157 · 8 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,157
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,117
  • PHOTO-FINISH gleichzeitigen

Nearest frequency peer: gleichzeitigen (+1 rank slots)

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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Giraffe“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Giraffe“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Giraffe vs griffe
57% similar
Giraffe vs Giraffen
88% similar
Giraffe vs gerafft
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Giraffe
PropertyValue
HeadwordGiraffe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˌɡiˈʁafə]
Letters7
Frequency rank#29,157
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Giraffe“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Giraffeliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „gleichzeitigen“ (#29,158), „gGmbH“ (#29,155), „Gottesdienstes“ (#29,159). Unter 5,117 „G“-Lemmata liegt „Giraffe“ bei #29,157. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around Giraffe (IPA [ˌɡiˈʁafə]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,157 among 5,117 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Giraffe, with forms such as "ggiraffe", "giarffe", and "girafe". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "griffe", "Giraffen", "gerafft", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Giraffe, spelled G-I-R-A-F-F-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    (in afrikanischen Savannen der mittelafrikanischen Steppen beheimatetes, in Herden lebendes) großes, langbeiniges, pflanzenfressendes Säugetier (Giraffa camelopardalis) mit einem 2–3 Meter langen Hals, dessen kurzes Fell sandfarben gefärbt und unregelmäßig mit (rost-)braunen Flecken versehen ist, dessen Rücken stark abfällt und auf dessen Stirn sich mehrere fellüberzogene Knochenzapfen befinden
  2. 2
    mit einem langen, schwenkbaren Arm versehenes Gerät, an dem beispielsweise eine Kamera oder ein (nicht sichtbares) Mikrofon montiert ist
  3. 3
    ein Sternbild am nördlichen Sternenhimmel
  4. 4
    hoch gewachsene, hagere Person
  5. 5
    langhalsige Person (veraltet zumeist bezüglich Frauen)
  6. 6
    Persönlichkeit von hohem gesellschaftlichen Rang
  7. 7
    hochmütige Person
  8. 8
    Damenfrisur, bei der das Hinterhaar in einer oder mehreren großen Schleifen auf dem Scheitel aufgesteckt wurde
  9. 9
    Person mit hervorstehenden Zähnen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Giraffe ist ein afrikanisches Huftier.
  2. „Wenn sich die Giraffen recken, / Hochlaub sucht die spitze Zunge, / Das ihnen so schmeckt, wie junge / Frühkartoffeln mit Butter mir schmecken.“

Synonyms

SteppengiraffeGieraffeKamelparderindianisches KamelGalgenStorch

This word in other languages

giraffe(English)jirafa(Español)girafe(Français)girafa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggiraffe
  • giarffe
  • girafe
  • girafef
  • girfafe
  • girraffe
  • griaffe
  • igraffe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Giraffe - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ggiraffe1giarffe2girafe1girafef2girfafe2girraffe1griaffe2igraffe2
Edit distance from "Giraffe"

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 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Giraffe"?
"Giraffe" is spelled G-I-R-A-F-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌɡiˈʁafə].
What does "Giraffe" mean?
As a noun, "Giraffe" means: (in afrikanischen Savannen der mittelafrikanischen Steppen beheimatetes, in Herden lebendes) großes, langbeiniges, pflanzenfressendes Säugetier (Giraffa camelopardalis) mit einem 2–3 Meter langen H...
What words are commonly confused with "Giraffe"?
"Giraffe" is commonly confused with "griffe", "Giraffen", "gerafft". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Giraffe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Giraffe" is [ˌɡiˈʁafə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Giraffe" come from?
"Giraffe" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 German words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Gourmet#29,160gewogen#29,153gepumpt#29,147gehende#29,140

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Kalium8 variantsfaires8 variantsergebe8 variantskühlt8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list