gaijin
/ˈɡaɪˌd͡ʒɪn/
"gaijin" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gaijin” is uncommon English (frequency #75,897 among 18,276 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #75,897
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A non-Japanese person.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gaijin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡaɪˌd͡ʒɪn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #75,897 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gaijin” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
gaijin is uncommon English at frequency #75,897 among 18,276 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡaɪˌd͡ʒɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for gaijin in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 外人 (gaijin, “foreigner”), from Middle Chinese 外人 (ngwajᴴ nyin). Compare Mandarin 外人 (wàirén), from Old Chinese 外人 (*ŋʷaːds njin, “foreigner, outsider” < “non-relative”), from 外 (wài, “outside, outer”) + 人 (rén, “person”). The correct English form is gaijin, spelled G-A-I-J-I-N.
Definition
- 1A non-Japanese person.
- 2A white person.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 外人 (gaijin, “foreigner”), from Middle Chinese 外人 (ngwajᴴ nyin). Compare Mandarin 外人 (wàirén), from Old Chinese 外人 (*ŋʷaːds njin, “foreigner, outsider” < “non-relative”), from 外 (wài, “outside, outer”) + 人 (rén, “person”).
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “gaijin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-A-I-J-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡaɪˌd͡ʒɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.