goth
/ɡɒθ/
"goth" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“goth” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,529 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #21,529
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A punk-derived subculture of people who predominantly dress in black, associated with mournful music and attitudes.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | goth |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡɒθ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #21,529 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “goth” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for goth is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡɒθ/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,529 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for goth, with forms such as "ggoth", "goht", and "gothh". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gut", "GTA", "GST", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From gothic rock, first used by John Stickney in reference to The Doors in 1967 and used by the late 1970s to describe the musical scene that gave rise to the goth subculture, both from a supposed aesthetic similarity to dark and moody 19th century gothic f… The correct English form is goth, spelled G-O-T-H.
Definition
- 1A punk-derived subculture of people who predominantly dress in black, associated with mournful music and attitudes.
- 2A style of punk rock influenced by glam rock; gothic rock.
- 3A person who is part of the goth subculture.
- 4Rare form of Goth.
Etymology
From gothic rock, first used by John Stickney in reference to The Doors in 1967 and used by the late 1970s to describe the musical scene that gave rise to the goth subculture, both from a supposed aesthetic similarity to dark and moody 19th century gothic fiction and earlier gothic art and architecture, from Late Latin gothicus (“Gothic, barbaric”), from Ancient Greek Γοτθικός (Gotthikós), from Ancient Greek Γότθοι (Gótthoi, “Goths”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), proposed to derive from unattested Gothic *𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌰 (*guta).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggoth,goht,gothh,gotth,gtoh,ogth
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of goth - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Using “goth”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-O-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡɒθ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gut” - see the side-by-side comparison. goth vs gut
- 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.