gaffe
/ɡæf/
"gaffe" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gaffe” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #43,660. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #43,660
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public; a social blunder; a breach of etiquette.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gaffe · gaffe · English
gaffe · rank #43,660 · 5 variants · 19 confusables
- FREQ-MID #43,660
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH FTE
Nearest frequency peer: FTE (-1 rank slots)
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “gaffe”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Fromm
Fromm
56,344 corpus weight
- FTE
FTE
56,342 corpus weight
- gaffe
gaffe
56,341 corpus weight
- gard
gard
56,339 corpus weight
- gargantuan
gargantuan
56,338 corpus weight
- gavel
gavel
56,337 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “gaffe” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | gaffe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡæf/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #43,660 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gaffe” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around gaffe (IPA /ɡæf/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #43,660 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public; a social blunder; a breach of etiquette.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for gaffe, with forms such as "agffe", "gafe", and "gafef". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "game", "gave", "gaze", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French gaffe (“blunder”). Doublet of gaff. The correct English form is gaffe, spelled G-A-F-F-E.
Definition
- 1A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public; a social blunder; a breach of etiquette.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how gaffe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
make a gaffe
Etymology
From French gaffe (“blunder”). Doublet of gaff.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- agffe
- gafe
- gafef
- gfafe
- ggaffe
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gaffe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gaffe", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "gaffe". Here's where to go from here.
- "gaffe" maps to 19 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "game". View pair
- 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #43,660 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "G" letter cohort. G–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.