ghetto

/ˈɡɛ.təʊ/

//ˈɡɛ.təʊ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ghetto" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ghetto” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,389. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,389
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An (often walled) area of a city in which Jews are concentrated by force and law. (Used particularly of areas in medieval Italy and in Nazi-controlled Europe.)

Corpus desk

Index EN-ghetto · ghetto · English

ghetto · rank #11,389 · 7 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,389
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH forestry

Nearest frequency peer: forestry (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “ghetto”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “ghetto” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ghetto vs grotto
67% similar
ghetto vs Guetta
50% similar
ghetto vs Ghent
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ghetto
PropertyValue
Headwordghetto
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡɛ.təʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#11,389
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ghetto”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ghettolands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “forestry” (#11,388), “grim” (#11,390), “footsteps” (#11,387). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “ghetto” is #11,389. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around ghetto (IPA /ˈɡɛ.təʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,389 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for ghetto, with forms such as "gehtto", "gghetto", and "gheto". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "grotto", "Guetta", "Ghent", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from the name of the Venetian Ghetto, whose etymology and original source language is uncertain. Compare Italian ghetto. The correct English form is ghetto, spelled G-H-E-T-T-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    An (often walled) area of a city in which Jews are concentrated by force and law. (Used particularly of areas in medieval Italy and in Nazi-controlled Europe.)
  2. 2
    An (often impoverished) area of a city inhabited predominantly by members of a specific nationality, ethnicity, or race.
  3. 3
    An area in which people who are distinguished by sharing something other than ethnicity concentrate or are concentrated.
  4. 4
    An isolated, self-contained, segregated subsection, area or field of interest; often of minority or specialist interest.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ghetto appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The Venetian ghetto, according to Sennett, was to provide protection from the unclean bodies of the Jews and their sullying touch. The Roman ghetto, on the other hand, was planned as an area for mission. It was supposed to collect the Jews in one place, so that it would be easier to convert them.
  2. […] concentrating the Jewish community into ghettoes. The Germans not only started the ghettoes, but they had also opened a concentration camp […]

Etymology

Borrowed from the name of the Venetian Ghetto, whose etymology and original source language is uncertain. Compare Italian ghetto.

This word in other languages

gueto(Español)ghetto(Français)Getto(Deutsch)gueto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • gehtto
  • gghetto
  • gheto
  • ghetot
  • ghhetto
  • ghteto
  • hgetto

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ghetto - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

gehtto2gghetto1gheto1ghetot2ghhetto1ghteto2hgetto2
Edit distance from "ghetto"

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

How do you spell "ghetto"?
"ghetto" is spelled G-H-E-T-T-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɛ.təʊ/.
What does "ghetto" mean?
As a noun, "ghetto" means: An (often walled) area of a city in which Jews are concentrated by force and law. (Used particularly of areas in medieval Italy and in Nazi-controlled Europe.)
What words are commonly confused with "ghetto"?
"ghetto" is commonly confused with "grotto", "Guetta", "Ghent". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ghetto"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ghetto" is /ˈɡɛ.təʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ghetto"?
Borrowed from the name of the Venetian Ghetto, whose etymology and original source language is uncertain. Compare Italian ghetto. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ghetto", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

housed#11,394Exodus#11,376eldest#11,372lastly#11,410

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

hides7 variantsMeyer7 variantsmoist7 variantscaves7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list