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PlainSpell

girlfriend

girl·friend/ˈɡɝlfɹɛnd/noun, verb

girlfriend is spelled G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D: 10 letters and 2 syllables (girl·friend). It appears 48 times per million words in written English, the 2,113th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “girl-friend vs girlfriend” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, girlfriend means “A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of girlfriend is girlfriends.

How many letters and syllables are in girlfriend?

Letters10: G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D
Syllables2: girl·friend
In writing48 times per million words; the 2,113th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is girlfriend?

Girlfriend appears 48 times per million words in written English, the 2,113th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce girlfriend?

  • UK /ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/
  • US /ˈɡɝlfɹɛnd/

Girlfriend has 2 syllables, split girl·friend in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-girlfriend.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with girlfriend

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

girl-friend vs girlfriend10 B

Also written: girl-friend (one word or two).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of girlfriend

  • girlfriends plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • girl friend
  • girl-friend
  • girlfran
  • girlfriending participle, present
  • girlfriended participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does girlfriend mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.

    Marc went to the park with his girlfriend and watched the sunset with her.

  2. 2

    datedA female friend of a woman or girl.

    Mary always enjoyed hanging out with her girlfriend Jessica.

  3. 3

    A fellow gay man, especially a friend as opposed to a sexual partner.

    [Tim:] james huh? my lover carlos's best girlfriend is named james. [James:] yes, i know. i AM your lover carlos's best girlfriend james.

  4. 4

    A term of address for a female friend or among gay men.

    [Hanque:] girlfriend - how'r we doing? [Doug:] hi hanque, i'd like a capuccino and some lobster bisque.. [Caption:] (friendliness with the waitstaff is a good sign)

verb

  1. 1

    informalrareTo be a girlfriend to (someone).

  2. 2

    informalrareTo have (someone) as a girlfriend.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate girlfriend?

Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of girlfriend: GF, g/f, girlf.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Girlfriend in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpetite amie, copine, petite copine, blonde, nana, meuf (a female partner in a romantic relationship)
GermanGirlfriend (a female partner in a romantic relationship), Freundin (a female friend)
Portuguesenamorada (a female partner in a romantic relationship), amiga (a female friend)
Spanishnovia, polola, jerma, flaca, jeva, geba (a female partner in a romantic relationship)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does girlfriend come from?

From girl + friend.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after girlfriend