grief

[ɡriːf]

/[ɡriːf]/ noun

The verdict

“grief” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Gram, Kummer, Leid

Corpus desk

Index DE-grief · grief · German

grief · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for grief
PropertyValue
Headwordgrief
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɡriːf]
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „grief“ im Deutschen

griefschafft es nicht in die Top 100.000 des Deutschen: Zone für Fach-, Alt- oder Seltenwortschatz.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

grief is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [ɡriːf]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Gram, Kummer, Leid".

No generated misspelling entries exist for grief in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is grief, spelled G-R-I-E-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Gram, Kummer, Leid

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "grief"?
"grief" is spelled G-R-I-E-F. The IPA pronunciation is [ɡriːf].
What does "grief" mean?
As a noun, "grief" means: Gram, Kummer, Leid
How do you pronounce "grief"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "grief" is [ɡriːf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "grief" come from?
"grief" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list