coffee grounds

noun

"coffee-grounds" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The sediment that remains after ground coffee beans have been extracted with hot water.

Corpus desk

Index EN-coffee-grounds · coffee grounds · English

coffee grounds · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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 coffee grounds
PropertyValue
Headwordcoffee grounds
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “coffee grounds” in English

coffee groundssits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

coffee grounds is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

coffee grounds has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From coffee + grounds. Compare German Kaffeegrund (“coffee grounds”). The correct English form is coffee grounds, spelled C-O-F-F-E-E- -G-R-O-U-N-D-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The sediment that remains after ground coffee beans have been extracted with hot water.
  2. 2
    Synonym of coffee ground vomitus.

Etymology

From coffee + grounds. Compare German Kaffeegrund (“coffee grounds”).

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 "coffee grounds"?
"coffee grounds" is spelled C-O-F-F-E-E- -G-R-O-U-N-D-S.
What does "coffee grounds" mean?
As a noun, "coffee grounds" means: The sediment that remains after ground coffee beans have been extracted with hot water.
What is the origin of the word "coffee grounds"?
From coffee + grounds. Compare German Kaffeegrund (“coffee grounds”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
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