Gobi
/ˈɡoʊ.bi/
"gobi" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Gobi” is uncommon English (frequency #50,537 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,537
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large desert in Asia, spanning the countries of Mongolia and China.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gobi · Gobi · English
Gobi · rank #50,537 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,537
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH GMB
Nearest frequency peer: GMB (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “Gobi”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Geraint
Geraint
49,469 corpus weight
- glitters
glitters
49,466 corpus weight
- GMB
GMB
49,465 corpus weight
- Gobi
Gobi
49,464 corpus weight
- grabber
grabber
49,461 corpus weight
- Gravesend
Gravesend
49,459 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “Gobi” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Gobi |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡoʊ.bi/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #50,537 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Gobi” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Gobi is uncommon English at frequency #50,537 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈɡoʊ.bi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A large desert in Asia, spanning the countries of Mongolia and China.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for Gobi in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Mongolian Говь (Govʹ) or ᠭᠣᠪᠢ (Ɣobi). The correct English form is Gobi, spelled G-O-B-I.
Definition
- 1A large desert in Asia, spanning the countries of Mongolia and China.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Gobi appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In winter the thermometer on the Mongolian plateau sometimes drops to –40° Fahrenheit, yet the camels wander about with no sense of suffering. On the other hand, the Russian explorer, Prejevalski, found the temperature of the ground in the Gobi Desert in summer to be more than 140° Fahrenheit, and the camels are apparently as indifferent to this degree of…
These missionaries were good people of whose devotion America can be proud. Some months later under Boxer mob-violence they were driven out on to the Gobi Desert. But the Tao Tai gave them protection which saw them safely across the desert to the Russian frontier, though with much hardship.
Etymology
From Mongolian Говь (Govʹ) or ᠭᠣᠪᠢ (Ɣobi).
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 "Gobi", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).