gouache
/ɡwɑːʃ/
"gouache" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gouache” is uncommon English (frequency #61,500 among 18,276 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #61,500
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A thick, opaque watercolour paint made with gum containing an inert white pigment to make it opaque.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gouache |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡwɑːʃ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #61,500 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gouache” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
gouache is uncommon English at frequency #61,500 among 18,276 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɡwɑːʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for gouache, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French gouache, from Italian guazzo. Doublet of guazzo. The correct English form is gouache, spelled G-O-U-A-C-H-E.
Definition
- 1A thick, opaque watercolour paint made with gum containing an inert white pigment to make it opaque.
- 2A painting made with this paint.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French gouache, from Italian guazzo. Doublet of guazzo.
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); 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 “gouache”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-O-U-A-C-H-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡwɑːʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.