goby

/ˈɡəʊbi/

//ˈɡəʊbi// noun

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

"goby" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“goby” is uncommon English (frequency #82,339 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,339
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various small fish from the large family Gobiidae, in which the pelvic fins are fused to form a disc-shaped sucker.

Corpus desk

Index EN-goby · goby · English

goby · rank #82,339 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,339
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH glowy

Nearest frequency peer: glowy (-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 “goby”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “goby” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for goby
PropertyValue
Headwordgoby
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡəʊbi/
Letters4
Frequency rank#82,339
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “goby” in English

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).gobyfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “glowy” (#82,338), “Godden” (#82,340), “Gohmert” (#82,341). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “goby” is #82,339. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

goby is uncommon English at frequency #82,339 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡəʊbi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for goby in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin gobius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβιός (kōbiós), a type of small fish, of unknown ultimate origin. See also gudgeon. The correct English form is goby, spelled G-O-B-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various small fish from the large family Gobiidae, in which the pelvic fins are fused to form a disc-shaped sucker.
  2. 2
    A gudgeon, a fish of the subfamily Gobioninae, such as Gobio gobio.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. “It’s estimated that 10,000 yellowfin gobies died … as well as hundreds of striped bass and hundreds of sturgeon,” and the bloom probably is impacting all aquatic species in the area “to some degree,” Traverso said.
  2. For acclimatization in the Barents Sea he recommends using the fish fauna of East Kamchatka and the Bering Sea, especially the Atka mackerel, the Goby Gobio gobio lepidolaemus (half scaled goby) and a species of flatfish, in the[…]

Etymology

From Latin gobius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβιός (kōbiós), a type of small fish, of unknown ultimate origin. See also gudgeon.

This word in other languages

gobie(Français)Grundel(Deutsch)

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 "goby"?
"goby" is spelled G-O-B-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡəʊbi/.
What does "goby" mean?
As a noun, "goby" means: Any of various small fish from the large family Gobiidae, in which the pelvic fins are fused to form a disc-shaped sucker.
How do you pronounce "goby"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "goby" is /ˈɡəʊbi/. 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 "goby"?
From Latin gobius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβιός (kōbiós), a type of small fish, of unknown ultimate origin. See also gudgeon. 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 "goby", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

glia#82,335gose#82,345Gath#82,327frap#82,313

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list