gofer
/ˈɡoʊfɚ/
"gofer" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gofer” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A worker who runs errands; an errand boy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gofer · gofer · English
gofer · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gofer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡoʊfɚ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “gofer” in English
Rare enough to double-check
gofer is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡoʊfɚ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A worker who runs errands; an errand boy.".
No misspelling variants are generated for gofer in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From go + fer (for), as in “go for coffee” or “go for that document” etc. Possibly also a pun on the rodent gopher, animals known for both their vast tunneling and their hoarding activities. The correct English form is gofer, spelled G-O-F-E-R.
Definition
- 1A worker who runs errands; an errand boy.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how gofer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They were learning to do what in all my years in the music business I never saw — which was women running a record company, women producing concerts, women learning to be engineers, women moving into this absolutely all-male enclave. You never saw a woman in any of those positions, in any of that work except as secretaries and "go-fers".
More and more people agreed to help with the mailings, the hand-distribution of flyers, and telephonings. Others agreed to be gofers and fetchers.
Etymology
From go + fer (for), as in “go for coffee” or “go for that document” etc. Possibly also a pun on the rodent gopher, animals known for both their vast tunneling and their hoarding activities.
Synonyms
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.