graduate

/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/

//ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"graduate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“graduate” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,000. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,000
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.

Corpus desk

Index EN-graduate · graduate · English

graduate · rank #3,000 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,000
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gang

Nearest frequency peer: gang (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “graduate”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “graduate” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

graduate vs graduated
89% similar
graduate vs gradual
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for graduate
PropertyValue
Headwordgraduate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,000
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “graduate”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).graduatelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “gang” (#2,999), “Greek” (#3,001), “functions” (#2,998). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “graduate” is #3,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around graduate (IPA /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,000 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for graduate, with forms such as "garduate", "ggraduate", and "gradaute". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "graduated", "gradual", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English graduat(e) (“(noun) a graduate of a university; (adjective) graduate, having graduated”, also used as the past participle of graduaten (“to graduate”)), borrowed from Medieval Latin graduātus (“graduated, graduate”), perfect passive part… The correct English form is graduate, spelled G-R-A-D-U-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.
  2. 2
    A person who is recognized by a high school as having completed the requirements of a course of study at the school.
  3. 3
    A person who is recognized as having completed any level of education.
  4. 4
    A graduated (marked) cup or other container, thus fit for measuring.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how graduate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If the government wants graduates to stay in the country they should offer more incentives.

Etymology

From Middle English graduat(e) (“(noun) a graduate of a university; (adjective) graduate, having graduated”, also used as the past participle of graduaten (“to graduate”)), borrowed from Medieval Latin graduātus (“graduated, graduate”), perfect passive participle of graduō (“to graduate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from gradus (“step”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). The noun is originally derived within Latin from the adjective via substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix). Sense 10 of the verb, relating to Japanese entertainment, is a semantic loan from Japanese 卒業 (sotsugyō).

Antonyms

studentdrop-out

This word in other languages

graduado(Español)licencié(Français)Absolvent(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • garduate
  • ggraduate
  • gradaute
  • gradduate
  • graduaet
  • graduatte
  • gradutae
  • graudate
  • grdauate
  • grraduate
  • rgaduate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of graduate - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

garduate2ggraduate1gradaute2gradduate1graduaet2graduatte1gradutae2graudate2
Edit distance from "graduate"

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

How do you spell "graduate"?
"graduate" is spelled G-R-A-D-U-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/.
What does "graduate" mean?
As a noun, "graduate" means: A person who is recognized by a university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.
What words are commonly confused with "graduate"?
"graduate" is commonly confused with "graduated", "gradual". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "graduate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "graduate" is /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuət/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "graduate"?
From Middle English graduat(e) (“(noun) a graduate of a university; (adjective) graduate, having graduated”, also used as the past participle of graduaten (“to graduate”)), borrowed from Medieval Latin graduātus (“graduated, graduate”), perfect pa... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "graduate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

memories#3,008engineer#2,991employee#2,989document#2,987

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

hanging11 variantsIslands11 variantsfingers11 variantsdancing11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list