girlfriend

/ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/

//ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd// noun

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

"girlfriend" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“girlfriend” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,113. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,113
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.

Corpus desk

Index EN-girlfriend · girlfriend · English

girlfriend · rank #2,113 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,113
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH formed

Nearest frequency peer: formed (-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 “girlfriend”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “girlfriend” 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
Key facts for girlfriend
PropertyValue
Headwordgirlfriend
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/
Letters10
Frequency rank#2,113
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “girlfriend”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).girlfriendlands 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 “formed” (#2,112), “hero” (#2,114), “flow” (#2,111). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “girlfriend” is #2,113. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around girlfriend (IPA /ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,113 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for girlfriend, with forms such as "ggirlfriend", "gilrfriend", and "girflriend". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. 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: Compound of girl + friend. The correct English form is girlfriend, spelled G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.
  2. 2
    A female friend of a woman or girl.
  3. 3
    A fellow gay man, especially a friend as opposed to a sexual partner.
  4. 4
    A term of address for a female friend or among gay men.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Marc went to the park with his girlfriend and watched the sunset with her.
  2. I was playing the acoustic guitar and my girlfriend was playing the drums.

Etymology

Compound of girl + friend.

This word in other languages

novia(Español)petite amie(Français)Girlfriend(Deutsch)namorada(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggirlfriend
  • gilrfriend
  • girflriend
  • girlffriend
  • girlfirend
  • girlfreind
  • girlfriedn
  • girlfriendd
  • girlfriennd
  • girlfrined
  • girlfrriend
  • girllfriend
  • girlrfiend
  • girrlfriend
  • grilfriend
  • igrlfriend

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ggirlfriend1gilrfriend2girflriend2girlffriend1girlfirend2girlfreind2girlfriedn2girlfriendd1
Edit distance from "girlfriend"

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 "girlfriend"?
"girlfriend" is spelled G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/.
What does "girlfriend" mean?
As a noun, "girlfriend" means: A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.
What are common misspellings of "girlfriend"?
Common misspellings include "ggirlfriend", "gilrfriend", "girflriend", "girlffriend", "girlfirend". The correct spelling is "girlfriend".
How do you pronounce "girlfriend"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "girlfriend" is /ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/. 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 "girlfriend"?
Compound of girl + friend. 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 "girlfriend", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

increasing#2,116restaurant#2,125originally#2,084historical#2,073

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

alternative16 variantsconfidence16 variantsapplications16 variantstemperature16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list