grey
[ɡɹeɪ]
The verdict
“grey” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #10,862 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,862
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - zwischen schwarz und weiß, von ähnlicher Farbe wie dunkle Regenwolken oder Asche
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | grey |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ɡɹeɪ] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,862 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grey” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for grey is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ɡɹeɪ]. Corpus data places it at rank #10,862 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for grey, with forms such as "gery", "ggrey", and "greyy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "guy", "grün", "grob", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is grey, spelled G-R-E-Y.
Definition
- 1zwischen schwarz und weiß, von ähnlicher Farbe wie dunkle Regenwolken oder Asche
- 2mit solchem oder weißem Haar
- 3wolkig und düster
- 4nicht interessant oder attraktiv
Synonyms
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: gery,ggrey,greyy,grrey,grye,rgey
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grey - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “grey”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is G-R-E-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ɡɹeɪ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “guy” - see the side-by-side comparison. grey vs guy
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.