gaydar
/ˈɡeɪdɑː/
"gaydar" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gaydar” is uncommon English (frequency #71,526 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,526
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The supposed ability to detect whether or not a person is gay by observing that person's appearance, mannerisms, etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gaydar · gaydar · English
gaydar · rank #71,526 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #71,526
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH gasser
Nearest frequency peer: gasser (-2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “gaydar”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- gainfully
gainfully
28,481 corpus weight
- Gansu
Gansu
28,480 corpus weight
- gasser
gasser
28,477 corpus weight
- gaydar
gaydar
28,475 corpus weight
- genii
genii
28,472 corpus weight
- geodesy
geodesy
28,470 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “gaydar” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gaydar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡeɪdɑː/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #71,526 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “gaydar” in English
Rare enough to double-check
gaydar is uncommon English at frequency #71,526 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡeɪdɑː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The supposed ability to detect whether or not a person is gay by observing that person's appearance, mannerisms, etc.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for gaydar in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Blend of gay + radar, equivalent to gay + -dar. The correct English form is gaydar, spelled G-A-Y-D-A-R.
Definition
- 1The supposed ability to detect whether or not a person is gay by observing that person's appearance, mannerisms, etc.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how gaydar appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This is not your Hallmark in Ames, Iowa. And there is “family” working there … no radar like gaydar, I always say.
When you first come out, you might have an overactive gaydar. When I realized I was gay, I wanted everyone to be gay too, which led to a lot of wishful thinking. "Helen Hunt is gay!" Dream on, girl!
Etymology
Blend of gay + radar, equivalent to gay + -dar.
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); 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gaydar", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).