girlfriend
/ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/
"girlfriend" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“girlfriend” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,113 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,113
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | girlfriend |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #2,113 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “girlfriend” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for girlfriend is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,113 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.
- 2A female friend of a woman or girl.
- 3A fellow gay man, especially a friend as opposed to a sexual partner.
- 4A term of address for a female friend or among gay men.
Etymology
Compound of girl + friend.
This word in other languages
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.
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"?
What does "girlfriend" mean?
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Using “girlfriend”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡɜːlfɹɛnd/ (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
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.