# goth

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɒθ/ · frequency rank #21,529

## Definitions
1. A punk-derived subculture of people who predominantly dress in black, associated with mournful music and attitudes.
2. A style of punk rock influenced by glam rock; gothic rock.
3. A person who is part of the goth subculture.
4. Rare 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).

## Easily confused with
- **gut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gut)
- **GTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gta)
- **GST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gst)
- **GTS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gts)
- **GTR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gtr)
- **gow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gow)
- **grt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-grt)
- **guts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-guts)
- **gown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gown)
- **GOTO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-goto)
- **gout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gout)
- **gove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gove)
- **gush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gush)
- **gots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gots)
- **Gott** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gott)
- **goya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-goya)
- **gotta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gotta)
- **Gough** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gough)
- **Goths** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-goths)
- **Gotti** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goth-vs-gotti)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ggoth`, `goht`, `gothh`, `gotth`, `gtoh`, `ogth`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/goth