goombah
/ˈɡumbɑ/
"goombah" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“goombah” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person of Italian descent (often implies the person is connected to Italian organized crime)
Corpus desk
Index EN-goombah · goombah · English
goombah · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 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 | goombah |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡumbɑ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “goombah” in English
Rare enough to double-check
goombah is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡumbɑ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for goombah in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable 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: From Neapolitan cumpà and Sicilian cumpari (“buddy, pal”, akin to Italian compare, Spanish compadre, from Latin compater, literally “godfather”), a word often used to refer to “family friends” or friends close enough to be considered an “aunt” or “uncle”, t… The correct English form is goombah, spelled G-O-O-M-B-A-H.
Definition
- 1A person of Italian descent (often implies the person is connected to Italian organized crime)
- 2A companion, pal, close friend, or associate, especially among Italian-American men. It sometimes has the connotation of an older friend who acts as a patron, protector or adviser.
Etymology
From Neapolitan cumpà and Sicilian cumpari (“buddy, pal”, akin to Italian compare, Spanish compadre, from Latin compater, literally “godfather”), a word often used to refer to “family friends” or friends close enough to be considered an “aunt” or “uncle”, though not related by blood. To an English-speaking ear, the unaspirated stops of Southern Italian dialects (especially Neapolitan) are interpreted as voiced stops, yielding goombah. Compare South American Spanish cumpa. Doublet of compadre, compeer, and compere.
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.